A wildlife attraction in Florida, run by Mario Tabraue—a former drug trafficker featured in the Netflix series Tiger King—is currently under scrutiny for multiple violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
A recent inspection report from the USDA, highlighted by PETA, details a routine inspection conducted on March 31 at the Zoological Wildlife Foundation in Miami.
The inspection resulted in 10 citations, one of which was deemed “critical.” This critical citation pointed out the facility’s failure to ensure that animals housed together or in proximity were compatible.
Inspectors noted a specific incident on January 1, where a female capybara was found dead in her enclosure. She had been living with a male capybara for about six weeks before the discovery.
According to the report, Tabraue expressed that he was “100% certain” the male capybara killed the female during a mating attempt.
Nearly three weeks later at the same facility, a female clouded leopard was injured by a male clouded leopard, resulting in “the amputation of [the female’s] entire left leg,” per USDA inspectors.
“The clouded leopards did not live together but had been put together for the purpose of breeding,” the report read, noting that the clouded leopards were in separate closures connected by a guillotine door with a “gap at the bottom.”
According to the report, Tabraue told inspectors he believed the female reached her paw through the gap in the door and into the male’s enclosure, after which he attacked her paw.
USDA evaluators also noted enclosures with excessive rust and “jagged edges,” “dead flies and gnats” in a freezer storing food, water and food receptacles that were not kept clean, and a damaged marabou stork shelter, among other citations.
According to the Miami New Times, Tabraue disputed the findings of the inspection, telling the outlet ZWF was “never cited by the USDA” and criticizing PETA’s complaints and characterization of the USDA’s findings. (According to PETA, the inspection was triggered by their complaint to the USDA against ZWF regarding the clouded leopard injury, which occurred during what they described as a “forced breeding attempt.”)
“The clouded leopard was wounded by the male and unfortunately we had to amputate the leg,” Tabraue told the Miami New Times, adding that veterinary staff arrived “within thirty minutes to take her to the hospital,” where she recovered for two weeks. “[She is now] living in an outdoor enclosure by herself off site from the public and thriving very well.”
Tabraue also acknowledged the capybara death, saying the male “suffocated her while trying to breed her.” He characterized both that incident and the clouded leopard leg amputation as things that happen in nature and that are “beyond our control,” according to the outlet.
has reached out to the Zoological Wildlife Foundation for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.
The USDA inspection comes more than six years after Tabraue first gained worldwide attention for appearing in Netflix’s hit true crime docuseries, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness.
Viewers learned that the zoo owner was previously a drug kingpin, with Tabraue saying in Tiger King that he trafficked drugs in order to fund his desire to own exotic animals.
He was convicted on 61 counts of racketeering and sentenced to 100 years in prison, but ultimately only served 12 years of his sentence after cooperating with federal authorities, the Miami Herald reported.
“I got out late 1999,” Tabraue told Oxygen in a 2020 interview, “and aside from a traffic ticket I have never clashed with the law again.”
“My drug involvement never had anything to do with my animals and the passion [I] have for them,” he added. “It’s accurate that I said that I sold drugs to keep the animals in the best possible conditions. [But] I have never had any wildlife abuse allegations. Even less charges.”