Zoo death spurs calls for tighter standards

Fatal mauling puts N.C. law in spotlight

RALEIGH, N.C. — The fatal mauling of a zoo intern by a lion that escaped from a locked pen illustrates the need for North Carolina regulators to crack down on unaccredited exhibitors of dangerous animals, animal welfare advocates said.

Alexandra Black, 22, of Indiana, was attacked last weekend while cleaning an animal enclosure with other staff members.

Sheriff ’s deputies called to the scene shot the animal eight times, killing it, before Black’s body could be retrieved. It was at least the 10th instance of an escape or attack by an animal at a privately run North Carolina wildlife facility since 1997, according to the Humane Society of the United States.

No problems were found at Conservators Center near Burlington — the nonprofit facility where the latest attack occurred — during inspections by the USDA in January 2017 or April 2018, according to government reports. A government inspector counted 16 lions, three tigers and two leopards among 85 total animals during the 2018 site visit.

A 2016 federal tax filing shows the center earned about $711,000 from gifts, grants and contributions while spending about $600,000 operating the center that year. An online public records search indicates the center faced state tax liens totaling thousands of dollars in 2017.

While the center is USDA-licensed, animal welfare advocates note that it’s not accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which requires facilities to meet strict animal safety and security standards.

The Humane Society has urged North Carolina to go beyond the USDA licensing standards, arguing that it’s among four states with particularly lax laws on private ownership of dangerous wild animals.

The organization pushed for a 2015 bill to make it illegal to own lions, tigers and other wild carnivores unless a facility was accredited by AZA or met other strict standards. The bill passed the state House but not the Senate.

“The longer North Carolina does nothing as other states continue to pass stricter and stricter laws, North Carolina is going to see people coming into the state with their collections of dangerous wild animals, and the problem is simply going to grow,” said Lisa Wathne, the Humane Society’s director of captive wildlife protection.

The center was founded in 1999 as an “educational nonprofit dedicated to providing a specialized home for select carnivore species,” according to its website. The site says it houses 21 species and gets more than 16,000 visitors annually after starting public tours in 2007.

The center acknowledges its lack of AZA accreditation on its website, noting that “facilities with more limited income must carefully choose how to allocate their resources.”