State Presents Its Case Against Zoo In Rockbridge Court

The hearing on animals seized from the Natural Bridge Zoo began Wednesday in Lexington/Rockbridge General District Court, as the state presented evidence for nearly seven hours.

Though a federal motion to delay the trial on their behalf was denied, zoo owners Karl and Debbie Mogensen will have until Jan. 5 to prepare evidence in their defense when the hearing resumes.

During Wednesday’s hearing, Senior Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch spoke of “misery behind the scenes” at the zoo, petitioning for the state custody of the 95 (now 96, one of the monkeys has given birth) animals seized earlier this month, as well as the four giraffes still at the zoo.

The state brought in several experts, including Amy Taylor, an investigator with state Office of the Attorney General.

Taylor was present during the Dec. 6 search of the zoo, and testified that security was “severely lacking” — entrance gates at the front and side of the zoo were unlocked when state police arrived before opening, and that nothing within the zoo grounds was locked, including in the animal habitats.

“I would expect a higher sense of security, both in terms of something getting loose, of protecting the public, and for protecting the animals,” she said.

Asha, the zoo’s African elephant, was not there on Taylor’s Dec. 6 walkthrough of the property.

When zoo staff began to arrive, they were informed of the search of the zoo and allowed to continue through their feeding and maintenance duties, accompanied by a state trooper, she said.

In speaking with the staff, Taylor noted that staff members were not assigned to a particular animal or area, but were moved throughout the zoo regularly, with most receiving “very little” training.

This can become an issue, she testified, as having the same staff interacting with the same animals every day means they are more likely to notice changes in those animals, and to respond more quickly to issues.

Darren Minier, director of animal welfare and research at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland, Calif., joined law enforcement at the zoo on Dec. 6 to evaluate the environmental and physical condition of animals.

In his evaluation, he noted “a pattern, at the Natural Bridge Zoo, of using livestock and agricultural practices for exotic animals.”

This was observed in the care of the giraffe and camels, which were not being fed in ways most appropriate to their species, and had little to no enrichment, he said.

Minier also testified to the dead animals seized from the zoo — 28 deceased animals listed as seized in the search warrant,  as well as a number of animal parts.

These dead animals were kept in bags or tarps in a freezer along with feed for other animals.

Though Minier said that zoos sometimes keep tissue samples to determine cause of death or for recording purposes, both what was saved at the Natural Bridge Zoo and the way it was kept were concerning.

“Keeping legs, the tail of a few-day to a week-old giraffe, a head — you’re not taking biopsies from those,” he said. “I’ve never been at a facility that keeps parts past necropsy, and I can’t think of a reason these parts would be kept.”

The dead animals seized were not all of the animals stored in the freezer, an amount which Taylor referred to as “overwhelming” and estimated to be more than 50.

She helped determine which dead animals should be taken —species which are endangered, vulnerable, or cases which needed further inspection — and sent to Virginia Tech for necropsy (animal autopsy). 

Taylor also spoke about the decision to euthanize of one of the zoo’s tigers, which she said had cancer of the liver, lungs, spleen, and intestines, and was also sent to Virginia Tech for further examination.

A significant part of the testimony Wednesday was centered on the four giraffes which were not seized from the zoo, due to the difficulty of transporting them.

Amy Phelps, assistant zoological manager at the Oakland zoo, was qualified as an expert witness on exotic animals on the basis of the more than 20 years she has worked in the field.

Based on her examination of the giraffes’ feed, housing, and physical condition, Phelps recommended seizure by the state.

Another concern was found in the limited records found of the zoo’s breeding program, both the frequency at which the giraffes were calving and how quickly those calves were shipped out, often at only 2 to 4weeks old.

Minier said that he “can’t see anything that is working in the giraffe program” at the zoo, also highlighting its breeding programs.

“It would be difficult to call Natural Bridge Zoo a zoo. People can come and see the animals, but the evidence of feeding, of care, as belied by the budgets and the logs and what I could glean from the medical records — is that it’s more focused on propagation of animals,” he said.

“Most of the animals don’t even have names. The instructions on propagating and on pulling and bottle raising the young animals are more complete than those for food or enrichment.”