i am NOT an anteater!: What's Happening At (To?) Our Zoo - Pt One

I mentioned in a previous post (5.15.22), that as I walked around the Zoo not long ago, I felt drear. There has been too many things that have built up to that, without naming them, you can go over the post titles on this blog for the past decade plus, to see what's happened to our Zoo under the leadership of Director Tanya Peterson. Currently, it's the addition of decisions being made with recent projects, that seem to have brought that feeling on.

The draft of this post started with words about mostly current projects, but when I picked it up again and I started to form the post, I ended up adding alot of project history. I apologize, much is repeated from things I've documented over the years. I try to make posts well-rounded and stand-alone, so I think it does lend to the overall understanding of the frustration of how things are prioritized there. Read through a bit of history points or skip ahead to Big Cat Grottos (the catalyst that I witnessed the day of drear), which I'll precede with an arrow > for easy spotting.

I think the project issues started in 2013, when the Zoo acquired the Komodo Dragon. The build for his enclosure was curious and frustrating, because if it's size. He was not huge at the time of his arrival, so the space (noted as temporary), would have been ok, IF the Zoo had followed though with it's "promise" to build him an appropriate size enclosure within a year and a half of his arrival. An enclosure that would accommodate the size he would soon start growing into. Essentially, the build should have started at the same time he arrived. Instead all design plans were allegedly veto'd by Director Peterson, and that poor Soul lived in that awful terrarium for over five years. He got so big he couldn't fit in his night quarters, and sadly ended up with a health issue, that the Zoo blamed on genetics, but there are other more likely causes. He was a favorite of mine and his life at the Zoo was heartbreaking. I wrote so many times about his plight at SFZoo. For more information, you can search this blog for those posts using his real name, "Falcor".

As I write about Falcor, I remember my friend Wishbone the Andean Bear. He and his mate Annie lived at the Zoo over twenty years. Almost all those years were exclusively on concrete. After Annie passed away, I embarked on my first crusade to help a Zoo Friend. I started a dedicated blog, made a Petition, and wrote letters to Board Members. I tired everything I could think of for Project Get Wishbone Grass to succeed. I felt the least the Zoo could do was add a small patch of grass to his home. A soft place for him to sit and lay. Shamefully, at no time did anyone want to help him. Choosing to move forward with other projects and ignore his physical needs. I guess breaking-up some areas of concrete and putting some sod in was too much to ask to make a Bear that had given his life to the Zoo, more comfortable in his senior years. Sadly, like Annie before him, Wishbone passed away because he eventually couldn't walk. His mind was all there, but his legs wouldn't work for him. A Keeper told me that the Zoo had known for years his bones were breaking down from walking on concrete. So, they just didn't care. They could have helped him, and they chose not to. He died before he had to. I suspect the same for his Annie.

The Chimpanzees had waited over twenty years to get a new enclosure. In 1997, City taxpayers voted on a bond, which actually featured the Chimps on campaign posters. The Zoo was awarded $48 million, which had the money designated for a Great Ape Forest, among other upgrades. The Chimps never saw that money and the Orangutans were shipped out. In 2015, Director Peterson chose to kick-out our three remaining senior Chimpanzees, rather than fundraise for a new home for them. I foiled that plan, the Chimps stayed and eventually got two new enclosures.

I need to throw shame to not only Director Peterson, but each Director since 1997, the Members of the Zoological Society, and the Rec and Park Dept. Not one of those entities aka faux "management" groups, did anything to provide the Chimpanzees with an upgraded home. They continued to live in an enclosure that was built in the 1960s, until 2018. The three seniors had lived in that same enclosure, with eventual rusted structures and lead paint peeling off their night quarter building, for forty-eight years.

In 2015, when Director Peterson was forced by public pressure to keep the Chimpanzees and do right by them, but she didn't do it right away. Not long after, she grabbed a check from a donor, back-burnered the Chimps, and went ahead with the donor Want of building a new area for Sifakas, an Animal that didn't even live at the Zoo. So the Chimps sat and waited. In my opinion, I think Director Peterson was also waiting. Waiting for the Chimps number to go from three to two, so the AZA/SSP would move them because their group number had reduced even further below their recommended size. Not having the Chimps there meant she could then bring in Orangutans, which was allegedly her reason for wanting the Chimps gone. Construction on the Chimps new spaces finally got started two+ years later in 2017, but not before the Flamingos got an unnecessary upgrade to their enclosure.

The acquisition of Orangutans came soon after the Chimps moved from the 60s Triple Grotto, to their new enclosures. They arrived in 2019, and there was no dedicated enclosure for them. Director Peterson cried poor and the Orangutans only outside access was in the Sky-Trails, which were built to provide access between the Chimps new enclosures, and Triple Grotto, creating several new spaces for both species to rotate into. That never happened. Based on what has happened, my opinion is that was all a lie to sell an illusion to acquire Orangutans. They came here and lived in those caged tubes for eight months. Still crying poor near two years later, the renovations to Triple Grotto, ended up being a disturbing mess, with not one thing done FOR the Orangutans.

In 2019, money seemingly fell from the sky, as no one apparently knows how the Snow Leopard project got funded. In my opinion, it doesn't even matter. Funds were secured for Snow Leopards, while nothing continued to happen for Orangutans, and that's wrong. So a brand new enclosure, rumored to be part of a multi-phase project, was started, before anything was done at Triple Grotto. Unfortunately, Triple Grotto will never be all that it can be (or was intended to be), until the Zoo has a Director who cares about these Beings. It's upsetting that the Orangutans will probably breed before that happens. Triple Grotto is a sad place for a babie Great Ape.

Wishbone and Annie. Falcor. Cobby, Minnie, Maggie, and Tallulah (our Chimpanzees). Ollie and Amoi (our Orangutans). I ask Director Tanya Peterson, Why?

In 2018, the Madagascar debacle got underway. When I first heard about it, I was sickened. Everything about that project confirmed so many things that are wrong with how our Zoo is managed. My MAD post, as I call it, has gone through many drafts, adding more as time passes. I was all about writing it back in 2018, but here it is four years later and still haven't put all my notes together to finish it. At first it was just too upsetting. Then it just became a whole thing and seemed too overwhelming to tackle. It's coming, but I'm fast tracking a part of the build plans to be included in part three of this post.

That was then, this is now.

> Big Cat Grottos

So yeah, my visit almost two months ago now, started with getting a look at what was going on at Cats, but seemed to upset me further by the ticker tape of previous builds. Still disgusted by what happened with Orangutans, then how the Snow Leopard enclosure was designed (so little space) and the phases planned out, and more recently, the filling in of the Sea Lion Pool to build an enclosure for the Condors, when the actual space they were supposed to go in is adjacent. As well as it not making any sense, more upsetting is them getting rid of a historic fixture at the Zoo and one of, if not the only place locally that could provide a home for Sea Lions in need, in my opinion is a huge fail. I don't think I'll ever stop being bothered by this. Maybe there are issues because of age, but for the reasons I stated, it should have just been left as is, until there were funds to do whatever necessary to save it. Read more in my post

https://iamnotananteater.blogspot.com/2022/01/say-goodbye-to-zoos-historic-sea-lion.html

I was initially bothered at the timing of the Cat yard expansion project. I'm a fan of giving all the Animals better and more enriching homes, but I'm more a fan of taking the Animals into consideration. My main issue with this project starting at that point in time was the sound of the demolition to the concrete wall that was being taken down. It seemed insensitive to our senior Cats. There was seemingly no reason to move forward with this, at this time. There is a long list of needs that could have been taken care of first.

To be fair, I asked about this, and was told, the noise bothered the Bongos more. I hadn't considered that, as my concern was for the seniors, but I didn't like hearing that either. Would have been ideal for the two unused spaces by Bongos to have been cleaned-up if possible so they could have temporarily used that space and not the one directly across the path from construction.

Anyway, as I said, in my opinion there are other needs that could have been done before this, like Condors. Those Birds have been waiting over six years for an enclosure.

So, my thoughts on the Cat yard expansion. I heard about this plan early last year, but I didn't think it would materialize this soon. It was accompanied by the dream of grandeur of building an additional Big Cat enclosure across the path from Grotto A in the space currently housing the Bongos. That the dream may still be part of their plan, although realistically it seems unattainable, as it would require an enclosed build and new night quarters. A costly venture, not to mention an eyesore for that area. That said, we must remember while our Zoo cries poor for some things, they have also proven that they find money for Wants, while Needs continue to be ignored.

So, let's just think about the existing space. So far, they have only taken down the finger wall between Grotto A and B.

I don't know what their plan is, but in my opinion, that should be it. Creating the one double space (A/B) than can be used to rotate Cats into, while maintaining two single spaces (C and D), seems like the logical way to go. My logic is that we currently only have Lions. I don't know what the future acquisition species would be, but considering the Zoo would probably want to house at least one Tiger species, they may need two enclosures if they ever wanted to breed Tigers again. My guess is that is not a future plan as they had a breeding pair that they were afraid to introduce, so they were sent to another Zoo. I personally don't think we need to breed Tigers. I think the SSP over breeds them anyway. What I do know is this is what I would do. ...

Over the past couple years Oakland Zoo has cared for several rescued Mountain Lions that have been non-releasable. These Cats have been placed in other Zoos. Zoos and Sanctuaries are the only places these Cats can go. It seems to be likely there could unfortunately be an amount of them that could eventually exhaust forever home options. When they sent the last three to Columbus Zoo, I thought SFZoo should plan to eventually provide a home for Mountain Lions in the future. Not only are homes needed, its a good deed and a great way to promote awareness for the plight of these Cats who are being displaced by human encroachment and conflict, and it's happening in our own backyard. This all said, the Oakland Zoo currently has two Cubs they will soon be looking for a home for. I would try to provide a home for them.

Regarding Tigers. Again I will mention Oakland Zoo, as they were in the news just last week, for giving a home to two Tigers rescued from a Roadside Zoo situation. I would look to a rescue situation like this, which could be one, or two already bonded companions, of non-breeding Tiger (s).

That would fill our three Cat spaces. Cats sleep most of the day, so again having just one expanded double wide space is enough. Unless, we forgo both breeding and a third species, then two double wide is fine, but it's limiting and doesn't provide for rescuing two species in need.

Update 6.23.22

Since this writing, I have visited the Zoo and unfortunately, another finger wall is coming down and the Zoo will be left with only two Cat Yards. I'm bummed this was done, for the reason stated above. I also wish I had got this post out in time to maybe knock some sense into the Zoo's thought process about this. ... I also witnessed two things. Our young male Lion, is the one not happy about the noise. During the six times in as many hours (as I checked for the female's Birthday celebration!) I circled back through the area, the Lions never moved. The female slept the whole time, the male cowered on the shelf at the back wall til a half hour after the noise stopped. He was literally in that spot from morning til after 4p. ... This was their second day in the expanded enclosure, and they stayed in the one yard they were used to.

I aspired to post the trilogy all at once, but since I'm still working on part three, and haven't proof-read part two, I gotta just publish each part as it's done. Done, I thought I was with this one two yrs ago, I mean two hrs ago! (shit it feels like two yrs!... legit typo!) only to find my edits didn't save. Good grief, these posts are a pain. Hope they all get published this weekend.

i am NOT an anteater!

Saturday, July 9, 2022

What's Happening At (To?) Our Zoo - Pt One - Big Cat Grottos

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