San Francisco Zoo San Francisco Zoo News 2024

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Joseph G said:
A grizzly bear chase. A dead penguin. Behind the scenes, the S.F. Zoo is in turmoil over safety
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Typical paywall -_-

Could someone either copy and paste or give highlights on this article.

From the posts I've read about the San Francisco Zoo and their need to update a lot of things (not just on the zoo grounds but also online; their animal roster list is now way outdated).

The zoo has so much potential but with its present leadership and reading about the high turnover rate, yeah, the curator in charge needs to be replaced with one that will better the zoo, not keep it in disarray.

I enjoy San Francisco Zoo for their two walkthrough aviaries but as far as animal welfare overall and a place to walk around in, I'd rather go to Oakland.

San Francisco Zoo can do SO MUCH better. I imagine that it will be overshadowed as the premier Northern Californian zoo when Sacramento's relocation to Elk Grove is both realized and opened.
 
Is this an outdated April Fool's Day joke? San Francisco Zoo needs an enormous upgrade and there's a lot of outdated exhibits and infrastructure...and yet they want to spend $24 million on getting Giant Pandas and opening an exhibit for them? All that money for two black-and-white blob bears? Wow! And the exhibit will apparently be an existing one, which makes me curious where it will be in the zoo. This is shocking news.
 
I spoke to soon with my comments the other day :rolleyes:

I assume the easiest place to put them is in the lion house. The zoo wanted to move the Jaguar last I heard and then they could send the lions out temporarily. They would have 2 nice sized outdoor yards, which could then be modified to have gentler moats. They could also then have indoor housing viewable to the public.
 
Alternatively they could ship the black bears/Mexican wolves out, or convert the eagle and mandrill exhibits to become panda enclosures since that area's already under construction for Madagascar.
 
Is this price even including the loans for the pandas or is this price just the exhibit? Because the loans would be an extra 20 million for 2 bears and 10 years.
 
 
I agree with all of the concerns, but I will suggest a line of optimism: pandas are enormously popular with the public and therefore could potentially provide a boost in revenue to the struggling zoo, revenue that hopefully could be channeled to the capital improvements the zoo desperately needs.
 
After being gifted with a public relations dream in the Giant Panda announcement, the zoo has released a statement on the article from the other day:
Statement on SF Chronicle Article:

We are aware of the article which misrepresented information and included many inaccurate facts. The San Francisco Zoo is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which conducts unannounced inspections. For more than 25 years, we have regularly passed these inspections. We take the care of our animals very seriously, and we're one of a handful of zoos with dedicated animal behaviorists and wellness researchers onsite to regularly evaluate the health and welfare of our animals. We also have numerous safety protocols to ensure the safety of our staff, as well as safety and welfare committees responsible for reviewing staff concerns, evaluating the situation, and resolving any issues. We are proud of the San Francisco Zoo and our teams, who work hard to make it one of the most popular destinations for the 700,000 people visiting our zoo annually.
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Joseph G said:
After being gifted with a public relations dream in the Giant Panda announcement, the zoo has released a statement on the article from the other day:
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I feel like the ignored the majority of substance in the article with this statement, and did not outright deny any of the facts. The panda news only makes the questions of the zoos aging infrastructure and misguided investments/spending more important.
 
A while ago, at the progressive Oakland Zoo, full of top-tier exhibits: "Can we get some Giant Pandas? We already built a new habitat for them."
"Nope, too bad."
"Okay, we will open 'Baboon Cliffs' with Hamadryas Baboons in 2009."

Meanwhile, the badly outdated San Francisco Zoo, with a few good things but also full of crap exhibits:
"Can we get some Giant Pandas?
"Sure!"
"Yeah? Are you positive? Have you seen our zoo lately?"
"Just start asking for money."
"Okay, we will open the exhibit in 2025."

Oakland Zoo's 'California Trail' complex opened in 2018 with 56-acres of space, including some massive enclosures. It doubled the size of the zoo, attendance shot up, and now Oakland is a top level facility. San Francisco Zoo has been stagnant for a very long time, with some badly outdated infrastructure across the grounds. And Giant Pandas are heading there? It's mindboggling.
 
With how incredibly negatively zoos with pandas have been treated online with boundless misinformation (namely Memphis) as of late, how in the world is seeing them in a dusty outdated exhibit in San Francisco going to help? It just feels like they’re rushing to beat San Diego to the finish line. This is a social media disaster waiting to happen.
 
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