SF RecPark Knowingly Lets Bison Meadow Dry Out, Preventing Grazing Animals From Grazing

Last Monday morning, I was out early because of The City scam that is Street Cleaning.  You know the one, where you have to get up early and move your car, so that an overpaid City worker can come by in a truck that puts out no water, and spins dry brushes that only push dirt around.  Anyway, it put me on my regular route through the Park.  

Lucky me, the Universe positioned me in the right place, at the right time.  As I turned off Fulton into the Park at 36th, continuing towards the Bison, there were sprinklers on everywhere!  8a must be the magical hour, when all the Parks landscaping gets their thirst satisfied.  All but the Bison's Meadow.  

The last time I documented about the state of the Bison's Meadow, because of the SF Rec and Park's negligence, was in an Augest post.  After seeing workers in the Meadow, and the Sprinklers on in May, which I also posted about, I thought FINALLY!  the Sprinklers were fixed.  No such luck.  

So, this week, when I saw an over abundance of working sprinklers flooding the areas surrounding the Bison Paddock, I documented the plight of the Bison's Meadow, in not one, but two videos.  One of the enclosure's landscaping, and one with information I gathered while there.

I wanted to make this post with those videos that day, but in addition to a busy week and my procrastination, I have been hesitant.  Every time I thought about it, I also thought of my commentary.  People who know me, who have watched some of my videos, who've read my blog posts, you know that I don't sugarcoat things.  You know that my words are sometimes, well often, laden with variations of the word "fuck".  The frustration of dealing with bullshit, especially the same bullshit, especially when it has to do with the disrespect and wrong treatment of Animals by humans, really sets me off.  And that morning, I just had it with this whole situation with the state of the lack of grazing vegetation for these Beings.  

I started to write, I'm old and I'm cranky, but more accurately, this issue is old, and I'm not only cranky, I'm sick of the same old tired subjects.   I'm sick of the Bison's Meadow being dried ass brown, preventing them from their natural grazing behavior.  I'm sick of the barriers at the Zoo not being updated to keep Our Animals safe, even though I've been roaring about it for a dozen years. I'm sick of the Orangutan's living situation. I'm sick of no fundraising at the Zoo for sixteen years, leaving it with so many Needs.  I'm sick of Tanya Peterson,  I'm sick of the Zoological Society, and I'm sick of the Rec and Park, for each of their negligence in managing Our Zoo properly. 

As a Richmond District Native and lifelong Resident of sixty-one years,  the Park has always been a part of my everyday life, it's my backyard.  The Zoo and the Park are the places that I frequent the most.  I'm very protective of Animals in general, so when something happens in the Park or at the Zoo, which I've been coming to since I was a babie, I find these issues completely offensive.  If people can't fulfill the position they are tasked with, move on and let someone who can take over.  All the issues I am vocal about are directly related to the Well-Being of Animals.  If people want to fuck around in their responsibilities, do it someplace that isn't tasked with caring for non-human lives.

So, my video documentation from last Monday.  

"San Francisco Bison Paddock - Ongoing Negligence By SF Rec & Park"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSLaS0BGx8

Video expands on the overview of these photos, and other details of this on-going issue.

Don't be fooled by these brown sticks, intertwined with green patches.  This is dried out non-edible vegetation.

"San Francisco Bison Paddock ... I got the 411 on What's really going on!! ... 9.23.24"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nO4Ub7t9kQg

After making the first video, I had the opportunity to gather some information, which I detail in the video.  One of the things I note is that I was told the RecPark Supervisor for the area of the Bison Paddock is Keith Roberts.  I note that I'll be contacting him.  Well, after making that video, I thought that name sounded familiar, so I searched my emails and found that I had emailed this guy already, and never got a reply.

Start Email >

August 29, 2022

Hello Mr Roberts

As a concerned Richmond District Native and 59 yr Resident,  I have been monitoring the dry meadow situation at the Bison Paddock for many years.  With the exception of Spring 2020 the inconsistency of the landscape to provide lush vegetation for these grazing Animals has been an ongoing issue.  The meadows have been dried out for over a year.

I was referred to you by the Gardener to seek answers to these questions.  

I am aware there is allegedly an issue with the irrigation and subsequently the sprinklers. Using Spring 2020 as the most recent starting point...

I saw the back meadow sprinklers on once a couple months ago...

When was the non-working issue identified? In front meadow?  In back meadow?

Has work started to fix the issue? When was that?  What is the eta for repairs to be finished?

What will be the plan for rejuvenating and promoting new growth once the repairs are done?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply.

End Email

If anyone wants to contact this guy, his email is Keith.Roberts@sfgov.org

I also noted that I found out the Sprinkler can't be hooked up to the automatic system.  

I mention the Zoo Keepers who take care of the Bison and thier efforts to supply supplemental food for them, since they have no Vegetation to Graze on.  Viewable in this screencap from the video that follows.

"San Francisco Golden Gate Park Bison..Rec Park Dept Continued Neglect Of Paddock Meadow 8.20.24"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rGZ8krQ7V4U

In my opinion, this is an Animal Welfare issue that these Animals are being prevented from their natural grazing behavior.

The RecPark needs to fix this Sprinkler issue.  If the Sprinklers are working, they need to be on everyday.   Whether that's by timer, or manually.  If it's not raining, the damn Sprinklers need to be on. ... If the Sprinklers are not working,  they need to be fixed, once and for all.  Good Grief.  The RecPark seems to make sure all the other Sprinklers are working.  

Additionally, the lack of continued grazing vegetation, has allowed for an abundance of non-edible plants to take over. The whole area needs to be mowed down, rototilled, cleared and replanted (at RecPark's cost), with proper edible vegetation.  They need to ask the Zoo's Animal Care Staff what that should be. This wouldn't have had to be done if they would have kept it watered, and whatever was growing there in Spring 2020 wouldn't have died off.  Note, 2020 was an isolated event.  They kept it lush and green since the Parks anniversary event was anticipated.  When Covid hit, they let it dry out.

Lastly, I'm not done with this by a longshot.  As stated above, I will be further investigating what I learned on site. I had already requested all documents related to the Bison Paddock Sprinklers and Maintenance.  They were released to me last week, but I haven't gotten a chance to review them close enough to investigate the information, but you can be sure, I will be investigating those discoveries as well.