RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ An animal rights group is asking Virginia officials to investigate the Natural Bridge Zoo for exhibiting exotic animals without the required permit. Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter Monday to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The letter alleges the zoo exhibits two Siberian lynxes, a Geoffroy’s cat and two fennec foxes without proper permits and provided false information. It’s asking that the zoo’s permits be revoked. The state agency says it has forwarded the complaint to the proper office for review. A phone message left for the zoo’s owner wasn’t immediately returned. According to its website, the privately owned zoo opened in 1972. Its owner previously had his federal zookeeper’s license suspended and was fined $10,000 for violating the Animal Welfare Act.
