Let This Be The End Of The EcoPark Nonsense

A week ago Our Zoo was in the midst of it's busiest weekend in recent history.  These two days and the Monday holiday for Martin Luther King Day saw attendance reach well over 22,000 Visitors!

My previous post reported the masses of people that I saw entering the Zoo and the traffic congestion on all streets outside the Zoo.  I posted about because it related to the post on the SFZooWatch site, titled "76% Want the SF Zoo Reimagined. Attendance Is Down 40%. Losses Near $12M... EcoPark SF lays out a new future for the 100-acre site."  The words being used by the author, an Anti-Zoo Activist, to support his claim for tearing down Our Zoo and replacing it with his EcoPark Fantasy.

In my opinion last weekend's attendance, while  notably the busiest some longtime staff can recall, shows that the Zoo still draws.  It is a chosen and valued City attraction, which goes against reasons being given to replace it.  

In my opinion those attendance numbers are not a coincidence, that's the universe speaking, and it's saying and showing, we want Our Zoo.  The Zoo going public does not want a new model of a Zoo, it just wants a better Zoo.  While those numbers may not yet be consistent in the near future, it shows that they can be with the right management attention to Our Zoo. 

It also shows that if even a quarter of the people who attended the Zoo last weekend, were able to vote in the exclusive Anti-Zoo Survey by the EcoPark author, that was not open to the public, the quoted percentage that, "Want the SF Zoo Reimagined", would likely have a more pro-SFZoo number.

When asked by network News media that covered the initial press release of the EcoPark Fantasy, two Zoo visitors were quoted...

"I think the Zoo without Animals turned into an EcoPark is ridiculous."

"I probably will say I do lean more toward keeping the Zoo as it is already."

I recently saved a photo posted to a City centric Facebook Group.  The vintage photo showed one of our long-timer Chimpanzees, sitting on the slope of a landscape bare island in Triple Grotto.   I always read through the comments associated with Zoo photos.  The members of these groups are often natives who either still live in the City or grew-up here.  There is much fondness for Our Zoo in the memories of these people.  

I kept the words of one comment...

"Our Zoo wasn’t and isn’t the best, but it played an important part of our love for animals here in the City. (It has gotten a lot better from when I was a kid.) Many of these animals are losing or have lost their habitats from humans. Many of the better Zoos have breeding programs that help to keep species alive. Most have animals that have never been wild, and are very well cared for. It’s exciting for children to see these live animals, we all don’t get/have the privilege of seeing them where they live."

A regular reader of this blog commented in part... 

"Zoos are so important! People - kids especially - need to see animals in order to care about them. They need to feel a connection, and a zoo visit can provide that experience."

That says it all.

Hopefully this will be the end of the EcoPark push, but more so, the last I will feel the need to post about it.  It's exhausting to feel obligated to state the obvious against the unattainable projections put forth as better alternatives to reverse the damage done by former Zoo management. The more productive effort by anyone wanting better for Our Zoo, is to try to make sure no further damage is done.  That includes both by new management, whether Interim or future New CEO/Directors, and in my opinion from experience, the stagnant and useless Zoological Society Board, that seemingly is still operating at previous status quo.  

In my opinion, the first step in preventing further damage to Our Zoo starts with Stopping the Panda Plan. Stopping the acquisition of Pandas, and concentrating on Needs over Wants, is what will be the start to bettering Our Zoo.  

This is not the first time I've said that, and it won't be the last.

Related Posts:  The four previous on same subject.

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