Settlement in second Cricket Hollow Zoo lawsuit

CEDAR RAPIDS - A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit between Cricket Hollow Zoo owners and an animal rights group over the alleged mistreatment of two lions.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund of California, which won a previous lawsuit against the zoo over the treatment of lemurs and tigers, filed this suit focusing on the two African lions, claiming they also were not receiving proper care.

The civil trial was set to start Monday but a court document was filed last Friday informing the court a settlement has been reached. U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade will allow both parties until Aug. 27 to file settlement documents.

The defense fund declined to comment on Monday and Larry Thorson, Sellner's lawyer, didn't respond to a request for comment.

Last month, a federal judge granted part of an injunction in the case, which ordered zoo owners, Pam and Tom Sellner, to allow a veterinarian to examine the lions, classified as endangered species.

The defense fund and five Iowans filed the new suit last month after first offering to hold off legal action if the Sellners would allow them to pay for moving the lions to accredited sanctuaries.

In granting the injunction, the court found there is a 'threat of immediate and irreparable injury” based on affidavits provided by veterinarians and other animal professionals, who described conditions of the lions' care.

Megan Ross, senior vice president at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, said in an affidavit that one of the lions, Njarra, appeared thin, had poor body condition and displayed abnormal posture, the ruling noted.

After losing the first lawsuit, the Sellners were ordered by a federal judge to transfer their lemurs and tigers to other Midwest facilities, which could provide better care.

In U.S. Chief Magistrate Scoles' 73-page ruling in the first lawsuit, he said the Sellners' violations are 'pervasive, long-standing and ongoing,” and if the endangered animals were not removed, the violations likely would continue.