WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Officials at the National Zoo in Washington admitted problems in treatment of animals and record-keeping in documents to a panel investigating zoo deaths.
A former zoo staff member alleged the National Zoo was guilty of poor veterinary care and of trying to hide mistakes. Donald Nichols resigned his position as an associate pathologist at the zoo in November and then turned over documents containing his allegations.
The zoo's 63-page rebuttal to Nichols' charges was reported Friday by The Washington Post. Zoo Director Lucy Spelman, in a report cover letter, said, that while the zoo's goal is "the best possible medical care for our animals," she admitted to staff errors in the deaths of 15 animals. The mistakes include poor veterinary record keeping and failure to examine some animals in a timely manner.
The zoo has been under investigation by a National Academy of Sciences group working under a mandate by Congress. The study was ordered after the accidental January 2003 deaths of two red pandas, who ate rat poison buried in their area.
