#2536 - Eric Goode & Jeremy McBride

Eric Goode and Jeremy McBride are the creators of Monsters of God, an HBO docu-series on the reptile trade based on the book The Lizard King. The project took approximately 15 years to make, involved filming more than 200 people, and centers on Mike and Ray Vendostrom, who run Strictly Reptiles in Hollywood, Florida, a facility that functions as a fulfillment center for wildlife. One subject went to prison for more than 100 years, another was described as the Pablo Escobar of reptiles, and Fisher Stevens warned Goode he might be killed making it. Goode says the series was harder to make than Tiger King, partly because the reptile community is deeply guarded out of fear of federal seizure and animal rights organizations, and gaining access often required years of courtship.

Illegal wildlife trafficking is approximately a twenty billion dollar per year industry, ranking behind only guns, drugs, and human trafficking. The figure includes consumption of turtles and snakes, traditional medicine, and luxury goods such as alligator and snakeskin products. Wildlife crime frequently converges with drug smuggling, and the second episode of the series focuses on that overlap in 1980s Miami. Drug smugglers force-fed cocaine-filled balloons to boa constrictors and cut them open at the destination, placed spitting cobras at the tops of crates to deter customs inspectors, and used fish markets in New York to hide drugs inside fish. Mario Tabrao, a central figure in the series, was sentenced to more than 100 years for murder and drug offenses but served only 12 years, and the DEA agent who put him away still fears retaliation and lives in rural West Virginia. Tony Biscara, who flew planes for drug operations, was caught with approximately 600,000 pounds of marijuana, received what Goode describes as the single largest sentence ever handed down for marijuana smuggling, and served 40 years.

Anson Wong, based in Malaysia, was considered the global kingpin of reptile smuggling and served what was at the time the longest sentence in US history for wildlife crime. Komodo dragons entered the United States illegally by being mixed into crates with common monitor lizards that inspectors could not distinguish from them, and Goode says the Komodo dragon that bit Sharon Stone's husband at the Los Angeles Zoo was one of those smuggled animals. The LA Zoo, San Diego Zoo, and Bronx Zoo all received confiscated smuggled reptiles, meaning traffickers were effectively at the origins of significant portions of those collections.

Exporting native US turtles to Asia has become a major trend over the last ten years. The United States has 51 species of turtles and tortoises, more than any other country, and species such as spotted turtles and bog turtles fetch thousands of dollars in Asian markets. A single confiscated shipment was valued at approximately half a million dollars upon reaching China. Turtles are easy to smuggle because they require no food or water, have low blood pressure, and can survive wrapped in socks and diapers in a sealed box. Golden coin turtles sell for 20,000 to 40,000 dollars each based on unverified beliefs about medicinal properties, and the Yunnan box turtle, rediscovered after being thought extinct for 50 years, could fetch an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 dollars. Wild-caught animals command higher prices than farmed ones because buyers believe wild turtles consume medicinal plants that enhance their chi, sustaining illegal collection even where farming exists. US wildlife enforcement is severely understaffed, with only one person in the country responsible for coordinating placement of confiscated wildlife.

Goode spent roughly 20 years working in Madagascar on conservation of the plowshare tortoise, which he describes as among the highest-value reptiles in the world at up to 100,000 dollars per animal. The species has functionally gone extinct in the wild due to poaching, with most animals trafficked on direct flights to Bangkok and into Asian markets. His organization obtained confiscated animals from China and Taiwan, waited 15 years to breed them, and produced the first plowshare tortoise hatchling ever bred in the Western world. A complicating factor is that plowshare tortoises do not reach sexual maturity until approximately 30 to 40 years of age. An earlier strategy of defacing shells with Dremel tools to reduce black market value ultimately did not work, and Goode argues the only durable solution is making species available through captive breeding to reduce the premium on wild-caught animals.

Goode was bitten by a tiger rattlesnake, the most venomous rattlesnake in the country, while looking for snakes north of Los Angeles. Thirty-six vials of antivenom were required, the hospital had to obtain additional supply from another facility, and he experienced serum sickness lasting weeks with intense fever. He drove roughly an hour to the hospital before Highway Patrol transported antivenom from Ventura, taking an additional 45 minutes, and approximately two hours after the bite experienced extreme chest pressure and feared he would stop breathing. The correct response to a rattlesnake bite is to stay calm and reach a hospital quickly, as cutting, tourniqueting, and sucking out venom is completely ineffective because venom is already deep in tissue the moment the snake strikes.

Goode and McBride argue that traditional conservation documentaries preach to audiences already aware of the issues. Their approach combines subcultures, unconventional characters, and conservation storytelling to reach broader audiences.