Parque de las Ciencias

Road 167
Bayamon, PR 00959

 

Parque de las Ciencias has repeatedly failed to meet minimal federal standards for the care of animals used in exhibition as established in the Animal Welfare Act (AWA). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has repeatedly cited Parque de las Ciencias for failure to provide adequate food and water sources to animals; failure to provide enclosures of adequate size and structure and to keep these enclosures clean and safe from risk of injury to animals; failure to provide public barriers and environment enrichment to primates; and failure to arrange proper social grouping of primates. Contact PETA for documentation.

Animals in recent inventory: 39, including 15 primates, 5 big cats, 12 raccoons, a wolf-hybrid, 3 deer, a hippopotamus, a goat, and a fox.

December 12-13, 2000: The USDA cited Parque de las Ciencias for failure to provide a proper public barrier that prevents the public from coming into contact with the stumptail macaques or the fox. The USDA also cited the park for once again failing to repair pits and cracks in enclosures affecting the majority of the animals. March 31 & April 3, 2001: The USDA cited Parque de las Ciencias for failure to notify the Agency that a capuchin was being raised by a park staff member in her home, an additional site subject to the USDA’s inspection. Parque de las Ciencias was cited for having an incomplete barrier around the fox and wolf-hybrid enclosures, “which would enable the public to gain easy access to these enclosures.” Parque de las Ciencias was cited for housing a stumptail macaque in a 2'x2'x18"steel enclosure, less than half the required cage size for this animal. Parque de las Ciencias was cited for improperly storing food, which resulted in an ant infestation in the feed room. Parque de las Ciencias was cited for failure to provide clean water to a spider monkey, whose water receptacle contained a large accumulation of algae. Parque de las Ciencias was cited for failure to provide an approved diet to its big cats, failure

to properly record the deaths of four raccoons, and failure to maintain an adequate program of veterinary care. The USDA also cited Parque de las Ciencias for previous non-compliant items that had remained uncorrected. The required environmental enrichment plan for primates was not being implemented. Primates had nothing more than feed boxes, and swings in the case of the capuchin, in their enclosures. Drainage problems, which resulted in accumulations of algae and mildew as well as pooling of water that caused the hyena to slide on the wet surfaces, had not been corrected. Repairs to enclosure floors had still not been made. The inspector wrote, “The walls of the hippo pool have once again begun to chip off in several large pieces. The lower front metal surfaces are badly rusted and pitted in the bear and jaguar enclosures.” Rubber balloons, a juice container, and snack bags were found in several animals’ enclosures. August 16-18, 1999: Parque de las Ciencias was cited for wood surfaces in the big cat enclosures that had been badly splintered as a result of clawing. Drainage problems creating large areas of standing water had not been corrected, resulting in algae and mildew formations.

All the concrete floors were reported to be “badly worn, pitted, chipped, and/or cracked. … These surfaces can no longer be adequately cleaned and/or sanitized.” Peeling paint on the walls of the primate enclosures had also not been corrected. There was still no social grouping plan in place for the primates, which especially affected the stumptail macaque, who could not hear or see other nonhuman primates. Big cats were still not fed an approved diet. Appropriate veterinary care was still not being given, and medical records not properly maintained. November 3-5, 1998: The USDA cited Parque de las Ciencias for the following: _ failure to provide an enclosure to the fox that allowed the animal to make normal postural adjustments. The inspector wrote, “The animal appeared to be stressed, as evidenced by pacing.” _ housing a goat in the avian enclosure without conducting fecal exams to ensure that the birds did not transmit parasites to the goat. _ failure to provide proper veterinary care, including fecal exams, vaccinations, and heartworm exams, and failure to provide a written program of veterinary care.

_ allowing the public to provide food to the spider monkey. _ failure to ensure proper drainage in enclosures. Standing water and accumulations of green and black algae and mildew were found in enclosures. _ allowing four metal bars extending from the top of a house in the goat enclosure to pose a risk of injury to the animal. _ failure to provide clean feeding surfaces to primates. The USDA also cited Parque De Las Ciencias for failure to remedy the following items that were noted on previous inspections: _ failure to provide a plan of environment enrichment for primates. Several of the primates were housed in isolation, unable to

see or hear others, and had been housed in this way for up to two years. _ failure to provide potable water. The hippopotamus’s pool was dirty and had large accumulations of algae growth, the water receptacle for the wolf-hybrid was black inside, and the water receptacle for the deer had accumulations of algae. _ failure to repair concrete enclosures and floors and surfaces with peeling paint or resting boards in the jaguar enclosure that had been clawed and chewed and failure to remove debris from the goat enclosure. _ failure to provide a written exercise plan for the wolf-hybrid _ failure to provide a proper resting surface in the rhesus enclosure. The inspector wrote, “The resting board

consists of a piece of wood placed on the floor of the enclosure.” Several protruding tire wires were also found on the stumptail macaque enclosure, and the holes in the drain cover of the spider monkey enclosure were large enough to allow the animals’ feet to fall through. _ failure to address pest control problems. Rodent and bird droppings were found in the food storage area. _ failure to ensure proper drainage in enclosures, which resulted in standing water and accumulations of algae and mildew. _ failure to provide acquisition and disposition records on animals.