In a not-yet-public report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found several violations of animal care and facility maintenance at the Columbus Zoo’s safari park The Wilds located in eastern Ohio.
In a 2015 inspection, the USDA found the park doesn’t have enough staff, it didn’t take some veterinarian recommendations and had elevated e-coli levels in some of its ponds. It also was unclear why two giraffes died in 2014. The report says The Wilds did not properly document animal treatments. Its conservation director and a staff vet Jan Ramer says the animals received proper care.
"The problem was that we weren't documenting some of those things and we are documenting everything now and I think that's been a good improvement," said Ramer.
The report also found five animals died from injuries sustained by other animals. The USDA says the zoo didn’t manage animal compatibility. Ramer says this is a challenge at The Wilds where animals live together on more than 1,000 acres.
"That we have very large herds exhibiting natural behaviors, and some of this fighting is a natural behavior," said Ramer.
According to the USDA, The Wilds has addressed these issues and is now in compliance. PETA released the unpublished report this week.
