Topeka ? The federal government sent inspectors to the Topeka Zoo this week to investigate what it calls the zoo’s repeat violations of animal care laws.

Investigators from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were at the zoo Tuesday and Wednesday.

USDA spokesman David Sacks says the investigation was prompted by repeat and direct violations of the Animal Welfare Act in the last year.

An area newspaper reports that zoo director Brendan Wiley says investigators looked at reports from 2006 to the present and sought documents showing how the zoo reacted to previous problems.

Wiley became director of the zoo after the USDA criticized it for numerous animal deaths, its professional accreditation was tabled and most of its management left or were fired.