Monkeys had frostbite at this N.C. elected official’s exotic animals farm, feds say
Several primates suffered frostbite while enduring subfreezing temperatures in their shelters at an exotic animals farm owned by an elected North Carolina county commissioner, according to citations issued recently by a federal inspector.
“A black and white ruffed lemur, a De Brazza’s monkey and a capuchin experienced frostbite injuries resulting in medical care being required by each animal,” according to one of several citations issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in March against Zootastic Park of Lake Norman.
“The lemur’s hand was injured and remains contracted while the De Brazza’s and capuchin suffered the loss of their tail tips,” according to a copy of the federal inspection report obtained by the animal-welfare group PETA.
Scottie Brown, the Iredell County commissioner who owns the park, didn’t reply to a phone message from The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. The park is about 35 miles north of Charlotte.
The zoo on Ostwalt Amity Road in Troutman has many types of wildlife, including lions, tigers, giraffe, antelope, cheetah, bison, deer, zebra, monkeys and birds, according to its website.
Monkey hugged live cord
According to its inspection report, the USDA also cited Zootastic Park for a young howler monkey’s “unsound” shelter, after the inspector saw the monkey “hugging a live electric cord that was connected to a heating pad inside its enclosure.”
That could have hurt or killed the monkey, the inspector wrote in the report.
The USDA also cited Zootastic for medicating animals without a veterinarian present, allowing visitors unsupervised access to some animals and failing to document its purchase or disposal of at least a dozen animals, the inspection reports shows.
Federal officials ordered Zootastic to fix all of the issues by late March and didn’t fine the park for the violations.
The agency typically conducts a follow-up inspection first, the Observer reported last year when Zootastic was cited for other violations.
In August 2021, a USDA inspector found maggots had eaten the flesh of three wolves, and exotic squirrels showed signs of “self-trauma,” the Observer reported.
The inspector also saw multiple rats “actively feeding from the fresh produce bowl in the cavy/chicken enclosure in the upper barn,” according to the 2021 USDA report.
An exotic tri-colored Prevost’s squirrel, native of Southeast Asia, had a superficial wound that Zootastic failed to report to its attending veterinarian, the inspector noted in her report.
The squirrel recently had its tail amputated at a veterinary hospital “due to apparent ongoing self-trauma,” the inspector wrote. Another Prevost’s squirrel previously had its tail amputated for the same reason, she wrote.
Previous violations
By summer 2021, the USDA had inspected Zootastic 27 times since 2014, agency records reviewed by the Observer show.
Inspectors cited the zoo for various animal-welfare violations on 14 of the visits, according to the documents.
In 2016, the USDA fined the zoo $7,450 for nine violations, including a poorly built enclosure that let a kinkajou escape. A lion cub at the zoo killed the tropical rain forest mammal, according to the inspection records.
In a statement to the Observer Wednesday, PETA official Michelle Sinnott urged the public to avoid the park.
“Stay away from seedy roadside zoos like this one, which needs to send these neglected animals to reputable facilities where they can get the care they need,” Sinnott said.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 1:19 PM.