USDA inspection report reveals animal deaths at Jungle Reef in El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection report revealed several violations found at Jungle Reef, located in El Paso's Shoppes at Solana, which included the death of two animals.

A female adult budgie, a type of bird, died three days following an initial discovery of a possible health problem that was not reported to a veterinarian, and a female Bennett's wallaby was killed by a "crush injury" from a gate, according to the report.

The USDA report, released in August, detailed their failure to "promptly report health issues to the attending veterinarian" which "resulted in delayed veterinary intervention that could have stopped the progression of the bird's decline."

It adds this prolonged discomfort or suffering for days.

Video footage shows a nine month old Bennett's wallaby named "Jupiter" was killed by a crush injury when it placed its head inside a gap on the hinge side of the open primary enclosure gate, and the gate closed while the animal's head was in the gap, according to the report.

USDA report explains this occurred while workers were bringing a large load of hay inside the enclosure while the young wallaby was allowed free roam of the entire area.

The attending veterinarian was notified, but the animal died from it's injury after only a few minutes.

Following this incident, the facility installed a guard covering to prevent future entrapment of animals during gate operation, according to the report.

The report also reveals other violations at Jungle reef which include improper feeding and failure to provide animal care records for four adult rabbits.

The report notes Jungle Reef did correct these issues at the time of the inspection conducted on August 20.

ABC-7 has reached out to Jungle Reef following these findings.