Last week we reported that an escaped White Rhino had been shot and killed by staff members at popular Central Florida attraction, Wild Florida last September.
The news only came to light recently after a report by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was released last week.
The report revealed that employees at Wild Florida Drive Thru Safari Park shot and killed a young male white rhinoceros less than 24 hours after he had only just arrived at the Central Florida attraction last September.
The report said that no action was taken against the park at the time.
Fast forward to this week, and a report has been released following an inspection conducted by a veterinary officer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in December.
The report that was first brought to the publics attention by News 6 here in Orlando shows that the inspection found that Wild Florida Drive-Thru Safari Park was critically and repeatedly non-compliant for the federal Animal Welfare Act.
The inspector cited multiple enclosures for not being of adequate strength so as to prevent animal escape, injury, or death.
Additionally, multiple enclosures had electrical cords or sharp edges contained within the enclosures that posed risk of injury or harm to the animals.
The report stated that “Enclosures must be of adequate strength to prevent animal escape, injury, and death.”
The inspection also noted an excessive amount of fecal material on a wooden viewing platform accessible to the public.
While inspecting the safari park feed room, some records for acquisition and disposition of two red kangaroos were not available for review at the time of the inspection.
The report also noted expired medications were found inside the feed room, some of which were past their expiration date,.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service did not release any information on whether any action would be taken against Wild Florida following the reports findings.
Wild Florida have not as yet issued a statement in response to the release of the report.
