Seek Permit Revocation of Puerto Rico Zoo

The Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted complaints to the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. More than 100 animals live in abysmal conditions at Puerto Rico’s only official zoo.

Updated

March 8, 2023

Work Type

Regulation

Status

Victory

Next Step

Update: Puerto Rico’s government is closing the Dr. Juan A. Rivero National Zoological Park following years of documented negligence. The Animal Legal Defense Fund sounded the alarm about the zoo’s abysmal conditions along with many advocacy groups in Puerto Rico — including urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture not to renew the zoo’s license due to its many Animal Welfare Act violations. We’re thrilled to see the animals at Mayaguez Zoo being transferred to sanctuaries and finally getting the care they deserve.

In October 2018, the Animal Legal Defense Fund submitted complaints to the Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. More than 100 animals, including an African elephant named Mundi and a chimpanzee named Magnum, live in abysmal conditions at Puerto Rico’s only official zoo.

We urged the agencies to revoke any permits granted to the Dr. Juan A. Rivero National Zoological Park and immediately send the animals there to sanctuaries, due to the Zoo’s violations of the Endangered Species Act and Puerto Rico’s animal cruelty laws.

The complaints allege the Zoo is in violation of the Endangered Species Act as well as Puerto Rico’s animal cruelty laws, which mandate animals be provided shelter, safe food, and adequate veterinary care.

Why this case is important: Small zoos across in the United States, including U.S territories like Puerto Rico, are able to operate while harming animals, including those protected by the Endangered Species Act, due to a patchwork of mostly-lax state and federal laws, and lax enforcement of those laws. At the Animal Legal Defense Fund, we use all the legal tools at our disposal to secure more and better protections for animals at roadside zoos.

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