San Francisco Zoo San Francisco Zoo 2012-2013

San Francisco Zoo said:
Guess who turns 4 tomorrow? Come by to wish Hasani a happy birthday and hear what he's been up to. Special keeper talks will take place at the Gorilla Preserve at 10:30 and 2:00
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If you're in town, stop by. The young ape appears to be maturing.


In other news, the old playground has been plowed under. The $10-million(?) expansion is definitely underway.
 
While all news out of San Francisco's zoo isn't bad, it certainly does seem like it.

From the zoo's Facebook page

San Francisco Zoo said:
With great sadness, the San Francisco Zoo announces the passing of Tallulah, matriarch of the chimpanzee troop at the Zoo, on Sunday, January 6, 2013, from heart disease complicated by breast cancer. Tallulah, whose age was estimated to be in the mid to late fifties, came to the SF Zoo in 1967 after being raised privately as a pet and was one of the oldest chimpanzees in an AZA accredited zoo in the United States.
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You can read Tallulah's full obituary on the zoo's website.

San Francisco Zoo's Prized Chimpanzee Dies | NBC Bay Area
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
Beginning February 11th, the zoo will change the name of their Black Rhinoceros exhibit, whose inhabitant is named Boone after a player on the San Francisco 49ers, to the Baltimore Ravens Exhibit, due to a bet made between the Maryland Zoo and San Francisco Zoo. This name will last for a month.
Maryland Zoo & San Francisco Zoo Make Super Bowl Wager | The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore
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San Francisco zoo to make good on Super Bowl wager - San Jose Mercury News
 
TZFan said:
The tiger cub is a female.
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And now she has a name. Meet Jillian, the zoo's $47,000 Sumatran tiger cub.

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Literary agent Jillian Manus plunked down the sizable, charitable contribution at the zoo's annual ZooFest on the 11th of May. No official announcement by the zoo has been made yet.

Full article here.

Arizona Docent said:
Nice article about the current director.
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And not a single mention of Terry Maples. If I'm being 100% objective, I can see that there are incremental improvements at the zoo. Still, there's nothing for Director Peterson to be patting herself on the back for yet. The much ballyhooed playground is readily underway (rumored to be over budget already), and the upswing in attendance is largely due to time. She's done very little to boost overall attendance.

While the animal husbandry continues to be outwardly exemplary, the zoo itself continues to... well, fall apart around itself. There's a lot of deferred maintenance that's detrimental to the overall visitor experience. Particularly around the cat grottoes.

I'd also like to know if there's a newer Master Plan aside from this one, because the entire "North American" section revolves around the Children's Zoo. Where are the grizzly bears going? In fact, the only bears mentioned are the Himalayan Black Bears. There's no mention of wolves either.

The South American section is more robust, but nothing mentioned makes it sound any different than any other zoo's attempt. Jaguars? Check. Tapirs? Check. Anaconda and capybara? Check, check.

The only interesting addition in that Master Plan is the inclusion of the Asiatic Lion. I wouldn't mind having one or three in my backyard.

SF Examiner said:
Since the zoo is located on the southwestern side of The City, known for cool summer days, drawing visitors can be challenging, Lazarus acknowledged. Zoo attendance is strong for people who live on the west side of San Francisco or San Mateo County, he said, but for other residents and tourists staying downtown the trip can be a trek.
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This here is a very important nugget. Public transit on the Western side of the city is abysmal; with an extremely limited amount of public parking, it's going to be necessary for zoo officials to push for better transit options including an independent right of way for light-rail. For example, it takes me approximately thirty minutes to drive from Oakland to the zoo. On public transit, just from downtown San Francisco, it takes over an hour easily. Including bridge toll, the cost is exactly the same.

The zoo might want to look at running its own shuttle, too. It might alleviate the parking problem in the interim.

And in other news, the zoo is looking @ increasing admission for the first time in five years. SF residents would see an increase from $12 to $14 and everybody else would see an increase from $15 to $17. Children from 4-14 would see an increase to $7.50. If passed, the hike would be used to cover toward animal wellness initiatives, temporary exhibits, and the zoo's overall appearance; i.e., maintenance.

Full article can be read here.

San Francisco Examiner said:
Under the new structure, admission costs would be in the middle of the pack compared with similar institutions. The Sacramento Zoo only costs $11.25 to enter, but the San Diego Zoo charges $44 for adults. Likewise, the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park has a $29.95 admission fee.
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This is how the zoo is going to portray the hike, but even the most casual of visitor knows that those named institutions are leagues beyond the San Francisco Zoo in terms of quality and exhibitry.
 
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BeardsleyZooFan said:
A baby giraffe was born recently.
SF Zoo?s Newest Member: a Baby Giraffe | NBC Bay Area
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We also received a new female giraffe from Albuquerque. She'll be two in...um, September. That savanna is going to start to feel crowded soon.

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Those aren't the only recent arrivals either! No, a Chacoan peccary pup arrived on the 18th of May and a couple of Magellenic penguins arrived @ approximately the same time. Plus, we've had a couple of new juvenile female mandrills for a couple of weeks now. Or was it a month?

Anyway, there have been a lot of arrivals recently!
 
Buldeo said:
Those aren't the only recent arrivals either! No, a Chacoan peccary pup arrived on the 18th of May and a couple of Magellenic penguins arrived @ approximately the same time. Plus, we've had a couple of new juvenile female mandrills for a couple of weeks now. Or was it a month?

Anyway, there have been a lot of arrivals recently!
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Chacoan Peccary pup? :p
But seriously, I thought SF had all female peccaries. How did they get a piglet?
 
BeardsleyZooFan said:
Chacoan Peccary pup? :p
But seriously, I thought SF had all female peccaries. How did they get a piglet?
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D'oh! I was so intent on ensuring that I was spelling Chacoan correctly (from the zoo's FB page), that I completely skipped over the "pup" bit. They've been calling it (her?) a 'pup' ever since.

Casting aside immaculate conception for a moment, I have to assume that the zoo received a boar at some point in time. Either that, or they received an already pregnant female.

I wouldn't rule out a boar randomly arriving; there's, like, four Wrinkled Hornbills that seemingly arrived out of nowhere. No mention of them through any official source I could find. They now occupy the set of cages directly opposite the Chimp Island.

On an unrelated note, I can confirm that there is a Capital Campaign underway for the Americas Section. Officially dubbed the "Americas Capital Campaign," there have been some direct references in the society pages of all places. It seems that the Director Peterson's society friends have been having a few of those $10,000-a-plate dinners often associated with political fundraisers.
 
Buldeo said:
D'oh! I was so intent on ensuring that I was spelling Chacoan correctly (from the zoo's FB page), that I completely skipped over the "pup" bit. They've been calling it (her?) a 'pup' ever since.

Casting aside immaculate conception for a moment, I have to assume that the zoo received a boar at some point in time. Either that, or they received an already pregnant female.

I wouldn't rule out a boar randomly arriving; there's, like, four Wrinkled Hornbills that seemingly arrived out of nowhere. No mention of them through any official source I could find. They now occupy the set of cages directly opposite the Chimp Island.

On an unrelated note, I can confirm that there is a Capital Campaign underway for the Americas Section. Officially dubbed the "Americas Capital Campaign," there have been some direct references in the society pages of all places. It seems that the Director Peterson's society friends have been having a few of those $10,000-a-plate dinners often associated with political fundraisers.
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Well, all in all, it's great to hear some new peccaries were born.
What's in store for the Americas section, if you know?
 
blospz said:
The zoo's renovation to the polar bear exhibit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AuxdbggbGA

Thoughts?
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Thanks for posting the link. The new renovation is definitely an improvement, although I wonder what the SF Zoo will do when these bears pass? The grotto is still pretty small for bears by modern standards, but maybe it would be okay for a smaller bear species like sun bears.

The main exhibit changes that the SF Zoo seems to be in the business of is making fairly small (but significant) changes in ancient, bad exhibits (hippos, chimps, big cats, bears) to accomodate ancient animals. When all of these old animals die then it is unclear what will happen to the zoo. The hope would be that they would build modern exhibits for some of these species, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
 
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