Animal deaths highlight lack of oversight at zoos

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), May 22, 2005 | by Don Babwin Associated Press

The death of a zoo animal rarely makes national headlines. And when it does, the animal is mourned by zoo officials and visitors as if it were an elderly friend.

It's when a zoo has a series of deaths in a short period, as has happened at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo -- all three of its African elephants, three monkeys, two gorillas and a camel have died since October -- that protesters start gathering at the gates and outside inspectors get involved.

One of the elephants was euthanized after collapsing April 30 en route to Salt Lake's Hogle Zoo.

"Zoos essentially operate pretty much on their own out there, with the exception of one federal law, the Animal Welfare Act, and that's pretty minimal," said Richard Farinato, who tracks zoo issues for the Humane Society of the United States.

Few states or cities have licensing or permit requirements.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is charged with inspecting zoos, and it has launched an investigation into the deaths at Lincoln Park. But it has only 100 inspectors to cover the country's 2,000 exhibitors -- zoos, traveling roadside exhibits, aquariums as well as more than 7,000 more enterprises such as research labs, wholesale pet breeders and animal transporters, said USDA spokesman Darby Holladay.

That clearly isn't enough, said Jane Ballentine, spokeswoman for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which accredits zoos.

"They're overworked and overwhelmed," Ballentine said.

The USDA does not track animal deaths and only sees the records when they inspect the individual zoos or read the zoos' annual reports, Holladay said.

Because they have so many facilities to inspect and so little time to inspect them, there is no guarantee inspectors will recognize any trend, said Farinato. "They will generally pour over them (records) carefully, but they may also say, you've got them, put them away," he said.

The USDA has the authority to revoke a public zoo's license and shut it down, but Holladay didn't know of any cases of that happening.

In 1998, the USDA investigated Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida after 29 animals died over a period of several months. Four were cheetahs that had ethylene, an ingredient used in antifreeze and solvents, in their systems. The USDA cleared the park of any wrongdoing.

"It was an unfortunate cluster of deaths," said Bill Foster, the head of the Birmingham Zoo and president of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, which also investigated the park. "A coincidence."

The zoo association can revoke a zoo's accreditation, which is voluntary. But even when it does, the zoo can continue to operate without it.

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., remained accredited even after a series of highly publicized animal deaths, including two red pandas that died two years ago after eating rat poison that had been buried in their yard by exterminators and a zebra that died in 2000 of hypothermia and malnutrition.

The zoo association also accredited Disney's Animal Kingdom after the USDA investigation and an investigation of its own.

Part of the problem, Farinato says, is the Animal Welfare Act itself: It's too easy to comply with.

While the act spells out specific enclosure requirements for a few zoo animals such as whales and monkeys, for the vast majority of animals it only requires that they "provide sufficient space to allow each animal to make normal postural and social adjustments and adequate freedom of movement."

"That means sitting, standing, turning around," Farinato said.

Further, the act does not require that zoos provide water at all times, only that "it must be provided as often as necessary for the health and comfort of the animal."

"So when I get a call from someone who's been to the zoo and says the bear cage has no water in it and says, 'Isn't that a crime?' I have to say, 'No, they're within the law,' " he said.

Some states have regulating and permitting requirements for zoos, but they often go unenforced. In the case of Lincoln Park, the Cook County State's Attorney is investigating whether the zoo violated the Illinois Humane Care for Animals Act at the request of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Zoo experts stress that the Lincoln Park Zoo is considered one of the top zoos in the nation, and they are confident that any problems that may have contributed to the recent deaths will be identified and corrected.

The zoo has already demonstrated its concern for the animals in its care, they note.

After two of its elephants died in October and January -- one from a noncontagious disease similar to tuberculosis, other from a variety of ailments common to older elephants -- officials moved Wankie, the only remaining elephant, to Salt Lake City because the animals require companionship. That elephant's health declined during the trip and it was euthanized shortly after arrival.

A preliminary necropsy showed Wankie was suffering from a bacterial infection that, combined with the stress of being moved, may have killed the 35-year-old elephant.