Oscar Day Always Reminds Me Of How We Almost Lost Our Chimpanzees

While I have weaved in good stuff during the years, the goal of this blog has always been to document all the things that just aren't right.  Writing posts has never been easy.  It's not only been time consuming, but more damaging, it's been emotionally draining and many times has caused great anxiety.  A few years ago, while trying to get to all my posts in draft, I decided to streamline them and only concentrate on the ones that illustrate what are in my opinion the worst actions Director Tanya Peterson has perpetrated on the Zoo, in an effort to highlight her extreme mismanagement.

The list is lengthy, but can and will be narrowed in a future post.  That said, this time of year always reminds me of what almost happened to our Chimpanzees at the hands of Director Tanya Peterson.

For those who are unfamiliar with this disturbing almost event, I'll try to synopsis it, as well here is the link to my dedicated blog that covers every aspect of it.

http://savesfzoochimps.blogspot.com

I grew up coming to the Zoo (circa the 1960s) and seeing the same Chimpanzees that I would become endeared to as an adult.  Within a couple years span, the Zoo had acquired four Chimpanzees that would become a family who called the Zoo and it's new Triple Grotto enclosure home for over forty years.  Tallulah arrived at eight yrs old in 1967, Cobby at ten years old in 1968, and Maggie and Minnie at the same time, at less than one year of age in 1970. ... In 1997 SF Residents voted for a $48 million bond for the Zoo, that was in part supposed to be used to build the Chimpanzee's a new home.  They were used as the "poster child" for the campaign, with their faces literally on posters, rallying for city residents to vote for the bond.  The money was misappropriated and the Chimp's continued to live in the same enclosure, as is for the next twenty-two years.  At no time did any of the Directors (David Anderson, Manuel Mollinedo, or Tanya Peterson) during that time frame, make any attempts to fundraise for the Chimps to have a new home built, or even to provide their existing home any upgrades. ... With the passing of our beloved Tallulah in early 2013, our Chimp family was reduced to three members.  The AZA's Species Survival Plan who monitors what Chimps live where, put forth the recommendation that three was not the ideal size social group for Chimps.  They also would not send any additional Chimps to live in the ancient Triple Grotto enclosure.  There is more to this in regards to ideas for solving this issue, but for this post, I'll leave it at that. ... During 2013, I had been contacted by a childhood fan of Cobby's.  She was also a filmmaker, and after a couple of our chats, decided to make a documentary on Cobby.  She planned a trip to see Cobby in late 2014.  I had been planning a series of blog posts about the status of the Chimpanzee enclosure for some time, even before the loss of Tallulah.  I put off finishing and publishing those posts til after the filmmaker's visit. ...  In late January 2015, word got to me via Keepers that Director Tanya Peterson had planned to ship the Chimps out.  Sitting here writing this, I still get chills.  In the two years since Tallulah, kicking out senior Chimpanzees from the only home they have known, was the action she chose to take.   Getting rid of the longest Zoo Residents, instead of giving them the home they were promised back in 1997,  securing they could live out their lives in an environment they knew, with people they knew, is unconscionable.  

I was told of this dastardly scheme by Keepers, because they knew I would make some noise about it.  They were right.  I was consumed empathetically by what my poor Chimp Friends would go through, if this happened to them.  Within a day, I had a dedicated blog, facebook group, twitter, petition, videos, meme's, anything I could think of to gain awareness to this moral crime.  I wrote letters to the board and city officials.  After about a week, a friend who knew Dan Noyes from KGO-TV, contacted me.  I called him and asked if he could do a story about this.  He was on it immediately.  I gave him all the people to interview, and he traveled by car eight hrs to one, by plane to Chicago and Florida, for two others.   He and his team did a great job and the story was ready in less than two weeks. 

While watching the Oscar Red Carpet, I got a message from Dan... The teaser commercial would run after the Oscars!  I fell asleep during the award show, and woke up hours later to a familiar voice, mine.  The teaser was replaying.  Evidentially it had been on heavy rotation since airing.  I had tons of messages.  Everytime I had on channel 7, from then til the Tuesday night broadcast, I saw the teaser and my face, at least three times an hour.  

I am so thankful for Dan's help in bring awareness to the Chimps plight. I have a decent but small following, so my voice is limited and what I needed, what the Chimps needed was public outcry and outrage.  The news story did just that.  Two days later, was the Zoo's Monthly Meeting.  That day I was still working hard for my Chimpers, and cut it close getting to the Zoo in time to visit them before the Meeting.   I got a message from a Keeper, "You did it!  Chimps are staying!"   I'm crying as I type this, just like I did in that moment.  I had never done anything like this, and the feeling was joy, relief and a sense of wow at the achievement.  I helped them in a way that no one else had been able to do, and through this crusade I had learned of two other attempts by Keepers, once in the 80's and once during the early 2000's.  When I next visited the Zoo a Keeper saw me and announced, "There's the most powerful woman in San Francisco!"   I don't know about that, but I have appreciated every one who recognized my efforts.  And that Keeper's statement was inline with the fact that I did basically go up against a group of City influentials and came out winning a new lease on life for my Chimpanzee Friends. 

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