Feds cite San Antonio Aquarium after death of escaped porcupine

The privately owned San Antonio Aquarium, cited little more than year ago by federal authorities for failing to meet animal-care standards, has again been called out by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture — this time for the death of a female porcupine.

A San Antonio Aquarium employee on July 28 discovered the deceased porcupine after the animal escaped her enclosure and entered the habitat of a male porcupine, according to the new USDA citation. The male then impaled the escaped female with his quills, the Aug. 1 document notes.

Only three weeks prior, employees at the facility constructed a plywood wall to separate the two due to compatibility issues, according to the citation.

"Housing facilities must be structurally strong and maintained in good repair to protect animals from injury and contain the animals," the USDA said in its inspection report.

Officials with the San Antonio Aquarium were unavailable for immediate comment.

Animal-rights group PETA, a frequent critic of the San Antonio Aquarium, said the federal citation shows the facility isn't capable of meeting minimum standards of animal care.

"A porcupine died because the San Antonio Aquarium couldn't be bothered to secure the enclosures of two animals it knew couldn't be together," PETA Foundation Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement Michelle Sinnott said in an email statement. "This tragic and preventable death underscores why PETA urges the public to avoid this facility as if lives depend on it — because they do."

Although the aquarium, located in a Leon Valley, is legally owned by Crystal Covino, PETA alleges that her husband, convicted wildlife trafficker Ammon Covino, actually calls the shots at the attraction.

In 2021, PETA unsuccessfully urged federal officials to shut down the aquarium, alleging "Crystal’s involvement appears to be a means for Ammon to contravene federal law prohibiting him from obtaining a license to exhibit animals."

In recent years, the San Antonio Aquarium has also drawn penalties from local officials.

The attraction was cited and ordered to close in March 2020, when police found it operating in defiance of pandemic lockdown orders. In 2018, the Leon Valley Fire Department evacuated the building and demanded it shut down due to code violations, including "unsecured propane tanks, heaters in unvented enclosures, a hazardous gas main tap, blocked or inappropriate emergency exits, and non-compliant, hazardous electrical wiring."

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