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Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville, Florida, has been cited with two more violations of the Animal Welfare Act, bringing the facility’s total to 13 violations in the past year.
The most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture report indicates the feds conducted a two-day inspection at Jungle Friends from February 3-4.
On the first day of the inspection, the inspector found the “Thunderdome indoor enclosure” housing four spider monkeys was filled with multiple piles of dried, caked-on feces. The inspector noted there was urine pooling along the inside wall of the building and the room had a strong odor. On the second day of the inspection, the inspector noted that Jungle Friends had placed newspapers on top of the pool of urine but had not removed them. The same dried fecal piles were also observed.
“This enclosure is not cleaned daily and [a] collection of fecal material and urine was seen,” the inspector wrote.
Jungle Friends' habit of failing to routinely clean their primate enclosures was also noted in the facility’s “Funky Monkey Town” indoor enclosure which contained multiple piles of dried fecal material on blankets and perches, according to the inspection report. On the second day of the inspection, the inspector noted that the same fecal piles were seen and there was a strong odor upon walking into the enclosure.
Jungle Friends was also cited for several primate enclosures that were pitted and flaking with rust.
USDA records indicate that the population of monkeys at Jungle Friends drastically declined between 2019-2021, with 59 monkeys dropping off the animal inventory, indicating the animals likely passed away. Records indicate Jungle Friends has taken in an additional four primates over the past year, despite being hit hard by state and federal regulatory organizations.
Jungle Friends has racked up 13 federal violations since January 2021 and an Official Warning. Other violations were for moldy food, rodent-infested enclosures, filthy primates cages contaminated with moldy animal feces, veterinary care concerns, and an insufficient number of staff members to adequately care for the animals at the facility.
Whistleblowers who run the Facebook page Primates over Profits recently addressed concerns over the staffing issues at Jungle Friends.
“Over the past 20 months Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary has not been able to retain any new staff hired for longer than five or six months,” Primates over Profits wrote.
The social media post indicates that an area of the sanctuary called “Kansas” that houses 120 monkeys is being cared for by only one part-time staff member.
“It is heartbreaking to know the monkeys are no longer getting the high quality sanctuary care they were once promised,” Primates over Profits wrote.
Primates over Profits has previously indicated that they believe the only way to affect positive change at Jungle Friends is for Director Kari Bagnall to be removed from her position and replaced with new leadership.
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary February 2022 USDA Inspection Report:
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