Zootastic Pimps Out Big Cat Cubs

2023 And It Looks Like Zootastic May Be Violating the Big Cat Public Safety Act

The Big Cat Public Safety Act made it illegal to allow public contact between tigers cubs and the public as of its passage in December 2022.  These videos and screenshots appear to have occurred in 2023.  Can you help us verify whether Zootastic is still pimping out tiger cubs?

In January 2023, an undercover operative came across a picture posted at Zootastic Park in NC of one of their teenage volunteers walking a very juvenile Tiger cub on a leash.  Not of value with regard to the BCPSA, but it put the organization back on their sleuthing radar.  Fast forward, 5/22/2023 they came across two brief videos posted on Youtube that captured a family engaging in a private very hands-on encounter with a juvenile Tiger cub at Zootastic Park.

 

 

 

The two videos had been uploaded on January 17th, 2023.

In one of the videos, the Zootastic park employee states that the name of the Tiger cub is “Parker”.

So, they spent the several days attempting to confirm that the upload “date” of the family’s videos were in fact the same time period that they had visited.

Zootastic confirmed that Parker was still at their roadside zoo, and more importantly, his age.

The timeline for Parker’s age lines up perfectly with the timeline of the family’s visit, see below:

 

It’s 2020 and Zootastic is still pimping out cubs.

PETA Tip Brings Federal Focus to Reckless Roadside Zoo

For Immediate Release:
January 22, 2020

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

Mooresville, N.C. – After PETA alerted the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to a video posted to Facebook showing Zootastic Park owner Scottie Brown exhibiting an apparently distressed juvenile tiger at a public event, the agency cited the roadside zoo for two violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA).

The video shows the tiger lying down, unresponsive and panting—behavior that, according to the inspection report that just became publicly available, could be the result of “general exhaustion, heat exhaustion, and/or sedation.” The report further notes that exhibiting a juvenile tiger in this condition “may cause harm to the tiger’s health and well-being.” The USDA also cited Zootastic for exhibiting the 6-month-old, 50-pound tiger on a leash, without any barriers between the animal and the public—placing both in danger. The USDA has previously stated that at four months of age “contact with the public is no longer safe.”

“Tiger cubs are often bred and taken from their mothers so that sleazy outfits like this can force them to pose for photos with the paying public,” says PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Brittany Peet. “PETA urges kind people to stay away from any cruel and reckless tourist trap that uses sensitive wild animals as selfie props.”

Zootastic’s history of violating the AWA includes failing to provide animals with adequate veterinary care, failing to maintain enclosures to prevent injury to the animals, improper handling after a tiger cub bit a member of the public, and failing to have adequately trained employees experienced in animal handling after  a wildebeest charged at an employee, causing major injuries. In 2016, the facility was forced to pay more than $7,000 for animal welfare violations—and it’s also received multiple official warnings from the USDA for a number of issues, including failing to comply with written veterinary programs and operating without a license.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.

2022 Reviews of Zootastic Park in Troutman, NC

I am not usually one to write about zoos and how animals are treated but i went to a zoo yesterday and my heart was broken. I went to Zootastic Park in Troutman NC, its a drive thru zoo with a walk thru exhibit as well. Once you exit the drive thru portion there is 2 very small cages housing 2 panting tigers and 2 panting lions. Then in the walking area there is a cheetah and a panther is small cages. In the back of the zoo there is another small cage where there are two more lions in a small cage with no much housing to hide from the rain and another cage with a white tiger who was also heavily breathing. My heart broke, I have went to this zoo before but only once when it first opened and another time during Christmas at night. I didn’t realize how bad the conditions were until going during the day time. I feel so bad for these animals.

They have a lot of different exotic animals as well that i know do not have the housing they need. Also 2 baby tigers and a cheetah were housed in small room together and looked very sick and sleepy.  I wanted to reach out as you may know someone who can help in the NC area. Thank you for educating me on big cats and their needs. Ive watched all the shows that you have been on or made. Your honestly an inspiration ( the whole origination, not just Carole.) Please advise me what i can do or how i can help to get these cats to a safe space. Sent from my iPhone

2016

A concerned citizen went to visit Zootastic in North Carolina and took photos and video of the cub petting taking place there. In September 2016 they took photos and videos of a white tiger cub with horrible ringworm being used for cub petting and a liliger suffering from what appeared to be severe mange. Just two months after filing her compliant with USDA, Zootastic was fined over $7,000 and slapped with 9 animal welfare violations! According to records obtained by PETA, Zootastic Park—a disreputable roadside zoo that PETA has lodged complaints against for years—was penalized $7,450 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November 2016 for nine violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.  More at https://www.peta.org/blog/zootastic-park-fines/

Your voice matters!  When you see something SAY something.

What Visitors Say about Zootastic

My son and I visited Zootastic Park at 448 Pilch Rd, Troutman, NC, 28166 this past Saturday, September 17th, and we saw some things with their big cats that concern us terribly.  We did the Tiger Cub Encounter and the white tiger cub named Thor appears to have something wrong on his skin.  I wasn’t sure what it was, but had some suspicions.    Thor was also very hoarse when he talked.  I thought he sounded very strained and he cried out often and appeared very distressed and stressed out.

Also of concern, out in the park where they have their new enclosure for the tigers, they have a sickly looking Li-Liger Cub (I asked the keeper/handler on my encounter about this animal) and he said the animal belonged to someone else, but they are doing the best they could for him. He has close to no hair and his skin looks awful.  He is also being tormented by an adult white tiger female in that same enclosure.  I saw her grab him by the neck and get on top of him to show him she was boss.  She did it many times and swatted at him.  Before I left, he decided to fight back and show her he was tired of it.  Very, very disturbing to witness.  They have NO WHERE to go to get away from the torment!  And this poor little guy also has an open wound on top of one his paws.

I sent this info and photos to Carole Baskin at Big Cat Rescue to take a look at because I know she’s an expert on the big cats.  She believes it may either be Ringworm or Mange on Thor the cub.   This is a huge problem because they allowed us to touch the cub!  I have cats at home and this would be devastating to bring home.  For the Li-Liger cub, she said it looks like Mange.   I am requesting that you have an Inspector sent out to Zootastic Park right away to investigate these issues.  Please.  If the cub has Ringworm or Mange, as you know both are highly contagious,  then this is a huge public health risk!   The public can touch the animal.  I told Carole  I was told that Thor is 12 weeks old and they got him at 3 weeks of age she said that means the cub was sold AFTER it became illegal to take the cubs from their moms for handling before they are 4 weeks of age (see the USDA below).  If the cub was transferred across state lines at 3 weeks and money changed hands, then it was a violation of the USFWS rule below.

4/5/2016 USFWS announced that they are rescinding the generic tiger loophole. Big Cat Rescue has been pressuring the USFWS since at least 2007 to rescind this loophole and on 8/22/11 after a meeting with the USFWS the Generic Tiger issue was published to the Federal Register for public comment and got over 15,000 comments in support of our request to ban the breeding of non purebred tigers. Read more: http://bigcatrescue.org/usfws-rescinds-generic-tiger-loophole/

4/3/2016 USDA cracks down on abuse of cubs under the age of four weeks.  In response to a 2012 legal petition filed by The Humane Society of the United States, World Wildlife Fund, Detroit Zoological Society, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Born Free USA, Big Cat Rescue, Fund for Animals and Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued guidance making clear that exhibitors violate the Animal Welfare Act by allowing members of the public to handle or feed infant exotic cats like tigers, lions, cheetahs, jaguars or leopards.  Read more:  http://bigcatrescue.org/usda-announces-partial-cub-petting-ban/

Please take a look at these photos and video I took of Thor the White Tiger cub and photos of the Li-Liger cub.  Thank you so much for your time and concern!

Name Withheld

USDA Citations 2014 – 2016

Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Jul 05, 2016	Direct: 1 Non-Critical: 7 Critical: 0 Animal: 194	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
Zootastic 2016-07-acis3	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Nov 16, 2015	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 0 Critical: 0 Animal: 194	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
Zootastic 2015-05-acis3	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	May 19, 2015	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 4 Critical: 0 Animal: 172	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
Zootastic 2015-03-acis3	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Mar 13, 2015	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 1 Critical: 0 Animal: 2	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
Zootastic 2015-02-acis3	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Feb 11, 2015	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 1 Critical: 0 Animal: 213	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Dec 30, 2014	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 0 Critical: 0 Animal: 2	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC
Zootastic 2014-11-acis3	Customer No: 44266 Certificate No: 55-C-0272	Nov 05, 2014	Direct: 0 Non-Critical: 4 Critical: 0 Animal: 21	ZOOTASTIC OF LAKE NORMAN INC

Back in 2014

It has been reported that Zootastic, in Troutman, NC is charging people to play and pose with big cat cubs.  As usual, these kinds of operators insist that they are “legit” and that they are breeding for conservation and that paying them to play with cubs will result in conservation and a lovely life for the cubs when they grow up and are sent to undisclosed, other facilities.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

These USDA inspection reports show continuing violations of animal welfare standards and when the cubs are sent to other places you can be sure they will be equally as bad or worse.  No legitimate facility would allow Zootastic to continue to exploit cubs and then dump last year’s babies on them.  That just perpetuates abuse.

Zootastic-2012-contaminated-food-inadequate-cages-illegal-purchase-348121512108140

Zootastic-2013-flies-210130904561467

Zootastic-2013-unsafe-dirty-cages-rats-316131202595636

Zootastic-2014-endangering-public309141411110578

Zootastic-2014-inadequate-caging-253141518120028

Zootastic-2014-smelly-cages-97140845575176

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As soon as they opened, in 2012, they were exploiting cubs

Last holiday hoorah at Zootastic Park

Although the holiday is over, and 2012 is undeniably under way, Zootastic Park, one of the region’s more unique attractions, wants to stretch that holiday feeling for a little bit longer.

The park’s operators say, given the difficult economy, they want to give back to the community for its support of the zoo throughout the year. As a final present under the tree, Zootastic is holding over its “Wonderland of Lights” spectacular for one last time.

One of the largest holiday lights displays in the area, Zootastic will flip the switch back on Saturday, Jan. 7, from 6 to 10 p.m. Admission to the display is free.

With more than 1.5 million lights along the two-mile drive, the display concludes with a computerized light show in Zootastic’s “Western Town.” After viewing the lights, visitors are invited to enter the zoo to visit the animals. There will also be opportunities to have pictures taken with Zootastic’s baby tiger cub, ride a pony and more.

The Christmas Wonderland of Lights is located off I-77 at Exit 42 between Mooresville and Troutman. From I-77 North, turn left off the exit ramp and then right on Ostwalt-Amity Road. Zootastic Park is one mile further on the left.

The park will open for its pre-season on March 3. For more information, call 704-245-6446 or 888-966-0069 or visit www.zootasticpark.com.