Animal Deaths Draws Investigation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture launched an investigation Tuesday into a string of animal deaths at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

The investigation comes two weeks before Animal Kingdom's grand opening and days after Disney confirmed the deaths, including four cheetah cubs poisoned by a toxic chemical and two exotic birds run over by a safari-ride vehicle.

"We want to check and ensure all the animals are receiving the proper care," said Jim Rogers, spokesman for the USDA, which is the primary agency that regulates zoos.

USDA inspectors visited the 500-acre theme park five times in mid- to late February and found it in compliance with all regulations, such as quality of the cages, veterinary care, sanitation and feeding.

"We want to go a little deeper than an inspection would go," Rogers added. "You can be in compliance, but we reserve the right to investigate."

The probe was prompted by national media coverage of the deaths, as well as complaints received this week from anonymous and named sources, said Elizabeth Goldentyer, USDA director of animal care for the Eastern United States.

Neither Goldentyer nor Rogers would elaborate on what the investigation will entail or when inspectors will arrive at the park. If Disney is found to have violated the federal Animal Welfare Act, the company could be fined or lose its license to display animals.

Disney officials are confident inspectors will find they are taking excellent care of the park's 1,000 animals. "We will welcome them back and cooperate fully," Disney spokeswoman Diane Ledder said.

In recent months, the Animal Kingdom has lost at least a dozen exotic and endangered animals, several of them in accidents.

Disney animal keepers remain baffled about the deaths of four, 4-month-old cheetah cubs at Christmas. Necropsies on the cubs showed they died from kidney failure, similar to that caused by poisoning from a toxic chemical, ethylene glycol, which is used in antifreeze and solvents.

A white rhinoceros died while anesthetized during a routine medical exam. A black rhino swallowed an 18-inch stick, which caused a fatal infection. A hippo died of blood poisoning.

Two Asian small-clawed otters also died in the past two weeks after eating a large quantity of seeds in loquat fruit, which can be deadly. Otters usually eat mostly meat and fish, but these otters ate the fruit from a loquat tree.

Disney workers have removed the tree, and no other otters have become ill, Ledder said.

Two West African crowned cranes were killed by a 32-passenger safari vehicle in separate instances in February and March. Disney has changed the ride to prevent further injuries. Those deaths are not part of the USDA investigation because the agency does not regulate birds.

The state Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission, which also inspects the Animal Kingdom, talked with Disney animal care workers about the deaths this week but decided not to investigate.

"At this point in time, we haven't found any intent or any violation of humane standards," said Capt. Jerry Thompson, the commission's statewide inspection coordinator. "It's an unfortunate situation, but we don't find it highly unusual to have deaths in the captive wildlife industry."

Zoo officials say new wildlife parks often experience a rash of animal deaths because animals are being transported over long distances and must acclimate to new surroundings. For Disney, the deaths may be sparking a higher level of scrutiny because of the company's high profile and the immense interest in a new Disney theme park.

"My gut feeling is that this investigation is just to quell all the rumors that Disney is mistreating its animals," said Ron Magill, communications director at Miami's Metrozoo.

"The thing I'm so angry about with the USDA investigation is the timing. I think unfortunately it will be a little stain on the opening," Magill said.

Despite the problems, Disney likely will draw big crowds on opening day for the Animal Kingdom, an $800 million theme park, eight years in the making.

"Disney spends hundreds of millions of dollars generating a warm feeling in the marketplace," said Peter Martin with Peter Martin Associates in Connecticut, a firm that specializes in tourism crisis management. "It would take a real tragedy -- not a few isolated incidents -- for it to have an effect."

The deaths have mobilized animal-rights groups, which have long opposed the Animal Kingdom because it forces animals to live in captivity. The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, for example, plans to hold a protest on the park's opening day April 22, 1998.