The Oregon Zoo has a long history of animal abuse. Here are just a few of reported instances, there may be many other instances gone unreported:

  • In 2024, a naked mole rat was injured (and euthanized) when caught between a corridor and a nest box being moved for cleaning.
  • The same year, two Maccoa ducks and a Ruddy duck were found dead due to entrapment in the filtration skimmer of their pool in separate incidents.
  • In 2016, Zawadi the lion’s tail got cut by a guillotine-style door during a public exhibition.
  • In 2000, Rose-Tu was sodomized by a keeper when she was a youngster and didn’t follow the keeper’s orders.

The last two instances were witnessed by the public, so they got covered by local media. The most transparent and inexpensive approach to address this problem would involve installing webcams at the animal exhibits. When we approached the zoo and Oregon Metro with the proposal, we were ignored. Clearly, the zoo prefers to publicize only cute animal behavior that they can curate.

If you encountered any instances of abuse, please share details with us below (anonymously if you prefer), and we will do our best to follow up based on details shared.

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