San Francisco Zoo San Francisco Zoo 2007-2008

The big cat and bear enclosures at the San Francisco Zoo are basically old-fashioned, antiquated pits. The polar bear exhibit must be one of the worst in North America, but at least the grizzlies are slightly better off in their $2 million "grizzly gulch".

Reduakari has a great point in terms of bond funds, as new hoofstock exhibits will definitely not appease vocal members of the community. Other than the new african savannah (which has its critics), the lemur forest and the grizzly exhibit, there isn't a lot going for the zoo. I don't know why they don't ship their lions and tigers to other zoos (if they can find homes for them) and then bulldoze the ancient big cat house. If it was up to me I'd demolish half the zoo! However, the hippos might just edge out the bears for the exhibit most in dire need of upgrading.
 
Those improvements were built first for a reason. The education building can serve as an event building that the zoo can rent out to raise money and the african savanna was built to move giraffes & etc out there so their old space could be used for elephants and rhinos. (of course the zoo cant have elephants without giving them 15 acres). Unfortunately, construction costs rose and directors came and went - each time a new director comes into a zoo they almost always revise the masterplan to make their contribution to the zoo's future - this brought additional costs that wasnt anticipated for the original bond issue.

As for the okapi with the giraffe, I've seen pictures from Frankfurt zoo in a similar situation but with more Okapi.
 
No question the SF Zoo improvements were chosen for good reasons. The money only stretched so far, primarily because of the huge construction boom in the Bay Area at the end of the last decade, which drove construction costs up astronomically. This was compounded by the bond funds being held hostage for over two years by a lawsuit involving the construction of a football stadium from other bond funds.

But over $1 million was spent designing a South American exhibit that never got built, and of course all the zoo's elephants died or were shipped out under intense pressure before a new facility could be built for them.

The change of directors really didn't change the picture much--most of the projects had been built or were contracted for prior to Manuel Mollinedo coming on board. Only "Grizzly Gulch" was built with the last remnants of the bond funds under his administration, not as originally planned. The final funds were expended building the god-awful new "security improvements" to the large cat grottos, for obvious and unfortunate reasons.
 
Critics blast S.F. zoo's use of bond funds

Here is a link that backs up what reduakari has been saying: that the $48 million bond for the San Francisco Zoo was used on exhibits that were not part of the original deal. Now there is only around $4 million left, and part of that will go towards renovating the hippo and rhino paddocks.
 
I also really liked the exhibit at the zoo featuring South American animals, the enclosure is essentially a huge grassy area with a big pool....but whenever I see the giant anteater is is always incessantly packing up and down
 
snowleopard said:
Zoo upgrades costing millions - Examiner.com

The zoo has already spent $2 million on security upgrades, so that doesn't bode well for any future improvements to animal exhibits.
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My feeling is that it is relatively small change for a zoo in a major city.
Their current crisis will, I expect, lead either to a closing or a renewal with substantial funding, private and municipal. They were already thinking big fund campaign before this happened.
I think the politics, "animal rights" groups, and weak management are the real issues that will determine the future - rather than the bank account.

Only an opinion, of course
 
Zooplantman said:
My feeling is that it is relatively small change for a zoo in a major city.
Their current crisis will, I expect, lead either to a closing or a renewal with substantial funding, private and municipal. They were already thinking big fund campaign before this happened.
I think the politics, "animal rights" groups, and weak management are the real issues that will determine the future - rather than the bank account.

Only an opinion, of course
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The very fact of the matter here is also plain cash. The municipality has neglected the San Francisco Zoo for years. It is like building the Guggenheim Museum and then not giving them any viable funding base and then be surprised that after 10-15 years of nonpayment of what it really takes ... that the museum starts falling by the wayside.

This US$ 2 mio. is ONLY for repairs and security arrangements. There is no talk of any secure and substantial funding to either improve conditions at San Francisco Zoo nor to build better exhibits for those species that really require these ... like the large carnivores, the great apes and the pachyderms!

What I would you all suggest is to petition governor Schwarzenegger to step in and provide the funding that San Francisco Zoo really deserves to claw back the zoo conservation territory it has lost over the last 2 decades. He may be a Republican but at least the guy has a true vision for California and he actually cares for the environment around us too! :cool:
 
Does anyone know if the pair of aye-ayes and/or dwarf lemurs aquired from Duke are actually on exhibit, or are they awaiting the Primate Discovery renovation? Thank you.

Eric
Portland, Oregon
 
Can someone please tell me the reason for the huge building in the Primate Discovery area? When I visited in 2005 it looked unfinished and visitors were not permitted to go inside.

Are the siamangs sill in their God awful tiny enclosure? They surely deserve a better exhibit. The howler Monkeys also need a new enclosure, they should build them an exhibit inside their Amazon exhibit.
 
The big empty space in the Primate Discovery Center was--originally--an interpretive gallery that had a number of mechanical interactive exhibits exploring/explaining primate behavior, physiology etc. When it opened in 1984 (85?) it was one of the first attempts to combine museum techiques with a live animal exhibit. After all the mechanical devices broke down, it was converted to a gift shop. As the building and associated primate cages (no sense rationalizing these enclosures as "habitats") gradually decayed in the tough salt ocean air, the central space was eventually closed entirely.

Don't know if the former nocturnal gallery will be re-opened to house the aye-ayes and mouse lemurs--this is where the last loaned aye-aye and other nocturnal primates were once displayed. I've heard there are conceptual designs to convert the entire remaining area of the PDC into a Madagascar exhibit, with a much larger space devoted to aye-ayes. But now no funding is in place for this or any other new exhibits, as all remaining resources are poured into "safety repairs."

And yes, the siamangs are still stuck in that tiny cage. Back in the 70s/80s, SF had two groups of siamangs (in even smaller chainlink cages), about 300 feet apart. They would duet every morning, which was actually pretty magical.
 
reduakari said:
The big empty space in the Primate Discovery Center was--originally--an interpretive gallery that had a number of mechanical interactive exhibits exploring/explaining primate behavior, physiology etc. When it opened in 1984 (85?) it was one of the first attempts to combine museum techiques with a live animal exhibit. After all the mechanical devices broke down, it was converted to a gift shop. As the building and associated primate cages (no sense rationalizing these enclosures as "habitats") gradually decayed in the tough salt ocean air, the central space was eventually closed entirely.

Don't know if the former nocturnal gallery will be re-opened to house the aye-ayes and mouse lemurs--this is where the last loaned aye-aye and other nocturnal primates were once displayed. I've heard there are conceptual designs to convert the entire remaining area of the PDC into a Madagascar exhibit, with a much larger space devoted to aye-ayes. But now no funding is in place for this or any other new exhibits, as all remaining resources are poured into "safety repairs."

And yes, the siamangs are still stuck in that tiny cage. Back in the 70s/80s, SF had two groups of siamangs (in even smaller chainlink cages), about 300 feet apart. They would duet every morning, which was actually pretty magical.
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San Francisco needs to re-invent itself as a well respected zoo. It requires good cash flow and a sound funding base. Currently, their management just seems in crisis mode and not much else. A lack of true vision by zoo managers in the face of adverse economic conditions and an indifferent municipality ....? I just can not seem to make out what they actually stand for! :(
 
@jelle: I couldn't agree more. The San Francisco Zoo is a total gong show, but the amount of money that they need to actually construct some half-decent exhibits is probably much more than they will ever receive. It's tremendously sad to see that some of those animals will spend their entire lives in ****** enclosures, and it's a shame that they can't be transported to a better zoological collection.
 
Beleaguered S.F. Zoo director quits

The executive director has resigned. The entire zoo needs a $200 million overhaul if it wants to survive another century, and unless there is money then who on earth would want to take over this place?
 
According to the article last time around:

He beat out 100 candidates and eight finalists for the position of executive director and president.
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@NZ Jeremy: but with zero funding and loads of controversy, who would want the job today? Maybe there is only one way for the zoo to go (UP!!) but in truth many of the exhibits are past their due date.
 
Of course I'd want the job today..! But with a caveat:

100 acres is large, I'd require permission to sell 40 - 45 acres (picking the oldest, most dilapidated half, with no critical buildings) which, given the zoo's location should provide enough money for renovations and construction to a high standard for the remainder of the zoo...

By referring to this map:

http://www.sfzoo.org/openrosters/DocDownload.asp?id=28924

You would have to keep the left side of the zoo as it has the majority of the buildings and new exhibits plus the strip of land across the top including the rainforest and Grizzly Gulch (which would also keep the secondary parking and a second entrance could be created)... The rest of the land to the right of the Gorilla reserve following a line of to the chimps, koalas, the rainforest building, down to Grizzly Gulch could be auctioned off to approved bidders (say someone who is looking to develop a convention centre or theatre... The zoo would lose a lot of hoofed stock but the only iconic species it would lose would be the lions and tigers (which needed a new exhibit decades ago), Rhinos and the penguins...

With the money I'd expand the African section to include lions and black rhinos, renovate and expand all the African primate exhibits and maybe renovate the discovery centre itself, the upper half of the zoo would be largely developed into an Asian forest theme tearing down parts of the children zoo and moving that to the top left corner leaving the insect zoo and expanding on the small native American animals area... The theme of the Asian forest could be from rainforest to highland (as to include the zoo's Siberian tigers, snowleopards, which I can't see on this map, as well as the Asian rhinos which they wouldn't want to lose)... I'd want to lose the penguins as an exhibit...

All buildings at minimum to be given a fix up and uniform look and at maximum completely gutted to form part of a streamlined plan, a new medical centre to be built in a redundant building or built from scratch and the entrance plaza should have the souvenir shop as the exit, i.e. you must leave through the gift shop and the zoo should find a prominent position within the zoo with a view to build an excellent restaurant which can be accessed from both inside and outside the zoo and is open after hours, the South American hall to be expanded to include the zoo's tapir and anteaters and finally the old bear pits to be torn down and large north American animal exhibits could be developed...

The Zoo would then have the following distinct areas:
African Trail
Lemur Forest
Asian Trail
Children's zoo, Small Native American Animals and Insect Zoo
South American Tropical Forest
Large Native American Animals

Along with uniform buildings each area should have decorative signage themed to area but similar throughout the whole zoo, landscaping should be a top notch so the zoo has style not just new exhibits... New exhibits should be carefully researched to find similar exhibits which are great for the animals, visitors, keepers, aesthetically pleasing but also relatively cheap to construct (stretch the money)...

If there was any left over money it could go into a investment trust with half the profits going to zoo running costs and half back into the fund...

Just a hypothetical but fun to think about...
 
snowleopard said:
Beleaguered S.F. Zoo director quits

The executive director has resigned. The entire zoo needs a $200 million overhaul if it wants to survive another century, and unless there is money then who on earth would want to take over this place?
Click to expand...

While I don't know this past Director and will not speak to what has happened there, I'm pleased with this development specifically because the zoo would never be able to move on otherwise. It's the sad simple truth of such institutions that there had to be a very public beheading. Maybe it was the right head and maybe it wasn't. Strategically it never seems to matter very much.

There are legion zoo professionals, both seasoned directors and general curators who will relish such a challenge. These folks don't want it easy.
But I'll bet the next Director will have to be first, a proven fund-raiser and second, either a proven zoo leader or willing to bring one in as General Curator or manager. I believe that the zoo society and the City know they require both talents in a big way right now.
 
@NZ Jeremy: I enjoyed reading about your ideas for this struggling zoo. The newer exhibits there are quite good, and you have made the correct choice as to where to split the zoo between the new and the old. Since I visited in 2006 there has been the opening of "Grizzly Gulch", which appears to be another half-decent enclosure to go along with the "African Savannah" and "Lemur Forest".

You said that you couldn't find the snow leopards, but they are actually located in the "Feline Conservation Centre" at the bottom of the map. It isn't shown on the map that you posted, but I have a hard copy from my visit and it's on that old one. Below the eland and rhino paddocks (where there is a big green empty space) was where the cats were found. This area is often overlooked or skipped by visitors as it is out of the way and a little tricky for some people to locate. It was actually shut off from the public at times in 2007 due to a need to fix the netting on some exhibits, and I'm not even sure if it is still open to the public. Due to it not appearing on the map, I'm assuming that it is still closed to zoo visitors.

I took the walk down the lane to this set of enclosures when I visited, and found the snow leopards in disappointingly small enclosures. There were a few other smaller cat species present, but I can't quite remember what they were. I think that they might have included fishing cats and ocelots...
 
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Some history of the zoo

n 1999, the San Francisco Zoological Society was granted ownership of the pool house, and it is not known what might become of it. The swimming pool itself was filled with rocks and gravel, with the space now serving as a parking lot for the zoo

Copied from Wikipedia .

The Fleishacker Pool was a huge swimming pool ( 100m x 30 m ) adjacent to the zoo . This is now where all the car parking area is on the Western side .

I am disapppointed that the zoo did not use this extra space for better animal exhibits . For a zoo of its calibre ( fast going towards 2nd rate ) it didnt need extra car parks . Its not a big tourist pulling attraction in the city , and it is served by a very frequent light rail service as well as bus services .....
 
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