Friday, June 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
ALREADY FACING A 16-count complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Southern Nevada Zoological Park has been hit with new allegations of failing to provide veterinary care.
In addition, the privately owned Rancho Drive zoo has suffered a number of other problems:
* Threatened confiscation of its lion by the USDA because of a lack of timely veterinary care.
* Withdrawal of three rare small cats by their owner "in the best interests of the animals."
* Two primates euthanized in the last seven months.
* Continued "dysfunctional" behavior among its Barbary ape colony.
* A citation for shipping its green grivet monkeys to another facility without the necessary health certificates.
Zoo Director Pat Dingle did not return phone calls from the SUN and, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.
In addition, the zoo is embroiled in a lawsuit with the city of Las Vegas about a $143,000 loan the zoo has not repaid. The city recently said it was seeking to add Dingle and his wife to the suit.
The latest round of problems with the USDA, the federal agency responsible for monitoring zoo animal care, began with inspections in April and May.
Both inspections revealed violations that animal care inspector Greg Wallen found serious enough to refer to the USDA's enforcement division for further investigation.
The April 17 inspection report by Wallen documents numerous violations, including continuing lack of adequate records and lack of supervision in the petting zoo.
The report notes the euthanization of two primates: a female grivet on Nov. 16, 1995, and a Barbary ape, Mimi, on Feb. 9.
Mimi was the ape involved in the death of the Barbary ape Mujica three years ago, which sparked the current USDA case against the zoo. A hearing on that case is set for July 31.
"Review of facility records reveals two instances in which animals apparently did not receive appropriate care in a timely manner," Wallen wrote of the primate deaths.
Wallen also documented that another Barbary ape, Lucky, was "receiving aggression" and showing some of the same neurotic symptoms such as self-biting that Mujica suffered before his death.
The May 23 report shows further evidence of aggression by the other apes toward the 3-year-old Lucky.
"Lucky ... was noted self-biting and with large patches of hair loss over legs, arms and from (self) hair-pulling," the report states.
Despite Lucky's deteriorating condition, zoo records did not indicate that staff had seen any aggression or that the problem was being "monitored, observed or that the attending veterinarian was notified."
Wallen said he witnessed "aberrant and dysfunctional animal behavior in this family unit." The zoo has failed to change its primate well-being plan to spell out how they will deal with the problems, he said, and has until July 17 to do so.
Wallen and other USDA officials were also extremely concerned with the zoo's treatment -- or lack of treatment -- of its lion, Arnie.
On May 15, zoo and USDA records indicate, the lion stopped eating and began vomiting and having intermittent diarrhea. As a result, Arnie was not receiving the daily medicine he was supposed to take with his food.
According to the records, it was not until May 20 that Dingle directed keepers to notify a vet and they didn't actually speak to a vet until May 21 -- the seventh day of Arnie's illness.
Dr. V. Wensley Koch, USDA supervising animal care specialist, said the inspection was prompted by a tip that the lion was sick and not receiving care. That, she said, is exactly what they found.
"We insisted they provide treatment and he (Arnie) started eating again on May 29."
Asked why the zoo didn't provide any treatment, Koch replied: "That's a good question."
Ron DeHaven, regional director of the agency's animal care division, agreed the zoo never gave his office a good explanation for delaying care to the lion.
"We even talked at one point of confiscating the lion," DeHaven said.
Despite all the problems, DeHaven said the USDA is still pursuing a negotiated settlement with Dingle and the zoo.
Officials considered adding the new complaints to the existing case, but DeHaven said that would have involved a delay of "several months to over a year."
The USDA, he said, is confronted with a dilemma in disciplining zoos. Penalties can include fines and temporary closures, he said, but the agency is reluctant to impose them because "in essence, we're taking food out of the animals' mouths."
DeHaven said any negotiated settlement would include mandatory "outside oversight," such as hired consultants, and would "address the Barbary apes."
In some cases, he said, the USDA will impose fines, but require that half the money go to improve zoo facilities.
In the worst case, the agency will take the animals away.
"We would rather have the animals moved to better facilities than maintained in less than adequate facilities," DeHaven said.
That's exactly what Pat Quillen, a leading expert on small cats, decided to do with three wild cats that were on loan to the zoo.
The founder and director of the Escondido, Calif.-based SOS Care, a nonprofit organization that specializes in small wild cats, removed on May 21 the group's tigrina, Geoffroys cat and a juvenile sand cat.
Quillen, whose qualifications include membership in the American Zoological Society, the Species Survival Committee for the World Conservation Union and Felid Taxon Advisory Group, was cautious in explaining her reasons for removing the cats.
"I felt that it was in the best interests of the animals," she said. "I'm completely removed and severed from that institution now and I'm much more comfortable now."
Quillen said the zoo's continued problems with the USDA played a part in her decision.
"The animals are always the priority," she said, "but that's not the case with all institutions."
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