Wildlife World Zoo Factsheet

USDA License #86-C-0022

16501 W. Northern, Litchfield Park, AZ 85340

Wildlife World Zoo has 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 cited Wildlife World Zoo for failure to provide veterinary care resulting in the deaths of animals, housing together incompatible animals (which caused trauma and death), failure to provide shelter from the elements, and filthy and poorly maintained enclosures. Wildlife World Zoo is accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) and sells surplus animals to a dealer who supplies hunting ranches. Wildlife World Zoo breeds white tigers, an aberrant color artificially bred for profit and entertainment purposes only. The AZA’s Species Survival Plan opposes selective breeding of an extremely rare allele for white coloration. Contact PETA for documentation.

Animals in recent inventory: 1,400, including primates, big cats, wolves, and exotic hoofed animals.

February 14, 2000: The USDA cited World Wildlife Zoo a third time for improper food storage. The zoo was also cited for having expired medication, failure to maintain structures, a dirty food receptacle for capuchin monkeys, inadequate drainage, and poor housekeeping.

June 21, 1999: World Wildlife Zoo was cited for failure to provide veterinary care, failure to have facilities to safely gather animals, and failure to have enough adequately trained employees. The inspector wrote, “Several animals were found in need of medical attention, but this was not provided or was provided too late to prevent the death of the animal. … Animals have gone down or died unnoticed by facility personnel.”

A veterinarian never examined an adult addax with a prominent limp.

A thin dik-dik (small antelope) with an open mouth died and was found to have pneumonia and a broken mandible that prevented him from eating.

An emaciated antelope with multiple skin wounds died on February 18, 1998. A necropsy showed a large amount of sand in her stomach, indicating that she had been kept away from food by the other animals.

A Thompson’s gazelle, after limping for five days, was found in an irrigation ditch, where she had died. A necropsy showed puncture wounds from being gored; her right thigh was swollen to 3 to 4 times its normal size.

Two pygmy goats died after difficult parturitions that were not reported to the attending veterinarian in a timely manner. The inspector wrote, “One goat was reported ‘in labor’ on January 23, 1999, but was not seen by a veterinarian until the following morning. The animal died two days later. … The second goat had one kid early on January 25, 1999. The veterinarian delivered another dead kid later in the day and treated the animal with antibiotics. The veterinarian found out on February 11, 1999, that she had become lethargic on February 7, 1999, and died later in the day. She was not given any veterinary care after January 25.

ìA dromedary camel was losing weight and being attacked by younger camels. Ö This was first noted on September 4, 1997.î A veterinary recommendation made on October 2, 1997, to separate the camel from the others so that he could eat more was not followed. The camel was euthanized on January 5, 1998, after he went down and was unable to get up. He was covered with cuts and abrasions.

An antelope was found dead in the pasture on January 20, 1998, and presumably had died 36 hours earlier. The animal was emaciated, and there was a heavy load of nematodes found in the cecum and large intestine.

The zoo was cited for failure to provide shelter from the elements. A llama was found down and not moving on August 13, 1998, and was found dead the next day from heat stroke. Three blackbucks and an emaciated zebra, frightened by storms, died from running into fences or other structures on February 18, 1998.

At least five animals suffered trauma and death as a result of incompatible animals being housed together.

The zoo was also cited for improper food storage, inadequate pest control, poor housekeeping, and feeding practices that allow animals to ingest fecal material, parasites, and dirt.

May 3, 1999: World Wildlife Zoo was cited for failure to maintain enclosures so as to securely contain animals. A capuchin monkey had attacked and bit an employee, causing a severe wound on her lower leg.

The USDA cited the zoo for failure to provide veterinary care. The inspector found a primate with an open wound, outdated drugs, and overgrown hooves on an antelope and three goats.

The zoo was cited for inadequate ventilation in an area housing two galagos (primates) and another area with a chinchilla, a hedgehog, and a squirrel. The inspector wrote, “A very offensive odor was present … of animal feces and urine.”

The zoo was cited for inadequate housekeeping and pest control. The inspector found housing areas containing cockroaches, heavy accumulations of rodent feces, dead rodents, garbage, and flies on and hovering around a lion’s face and hindquarters.

The zoo was cited for improper handling. Two unpredictable pot bellied pigs with large tusks in the petting area snapped at employees and the inspector. Insufficient barriers allowed daily physical contact between primates and visitors, who had been seen feeding French fries to the animals.

The zoo was cited for failure to maintain structures. An antelope routinely escaped the enclosure and left the zoo grounds for three weeks. A Patagonian cavy regularly escaped the enclosure. A coyote entered the grounds and killed several birds and a dik-dik (small antelope).

The zoo was also cited for failure to provide access to records, improper feeding, providing dirty water, filthy enclosures, inadequate drainage, and improperly housing guinea pigs.

March 9, 1999: The USDA cited World Wildlife Zoo for a structurally unsound lemur exhibit and improper storage of bedding material.

February 11, 1999: According to the San Jose Mercury News, World Wildlife Zoo sold oryx to a dealer who supplies hunting ranches.

April 9, 1998: World Wildlife Zoo was cited a second time for having primate den boxes made of improper material that prevented sanitizing and others that were falling apart. The zoo was also cited for inadequate drainage in exhibit areas, failure to provide fresh, clean water to the jaguars, poor housekeeping, and inadequate pest control.