Customers and Staff Injured at Local Roadside Zoo; PETA Wants Immediate Investigation

For Immediate Release:
August 6, 2024

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Miami –

Damning new state records just obtained by PETA reveal that staff members and customers—including children—have been injured during public encounters with animals at Zoological Wildlife Foundation, a notorious roadside zoo featured in Tiger King and owned by former drug kingpin and convicted felon Mario Tabraue. In response, PETA sent a letter this morning to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requesting that the agency promptly investigate the Miami-based facility and hold all responsible parties accountable for any violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.

The USDA recently cited Zoological Wildlife Foundation after two children were “scratched” by a capuchin monkey during a public encounter in January, but PETA points out that records from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission—which include a doctor’s report and photos—reveal that three children were bitten during the incident. Monkeys can carry many diseases transmittable to humans, including rabies, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. In addition, state records detail the following incidents:

In May, another child was bitten by the same capuchin monkey and required transportation to a medical facility for treatment.
In 2023, a customer was bitten on the thigh by a capuchin monkey who had fled from her handler.
In 2023, Tabraue was hospitalized for several days after he was bitten by a Gila monster and went into anaphylactic shock.
In 2022, an employee was scratched by a jaguar and received stitches.

A capuchin monkey who bit a woman after being used for public encounters by Zoological Wildlife Foundation. Photo obtained from a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report via a public records request

“Zoological Wildlife Foundation exploits animals in dangerous publicity stunts and hands-on encounters that have gone horribly wrong,” says PETA Foundation Senior Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler. “PETA is calling on the USDA to take action against this seedy roadside zoo and urges everyone to avoid businesses that use wild animals as props.”

Zoological Wildlife Foundation has a long and disturbing history of endangering animals and the public and has been issued multiple citations by the USDA for violating the Animal Welfare Act—including in 2023 and 2021, when guests were bitten by a lion cub during public encounters. In 2020, a child was bitten by a 4-year-old chimpanzee, and in 2014, a tiger bit off a construction worker’s thumb after the man put his hand into a cage.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.