Zoo In The News - Today's Chronicle Article 10.11.24

It never fails, when I'm almost ready to publish posts that have been in draft, something else presents itself.  At 3a this morning, someone sent me this new Chronicle article.  I glanced at it behind the paywall before leaving the house today.  Sat down tonight with the intention to reread without the wall and make a few notes for a reaction post.  I started reading and found myself notating for every paragraph.  What you read below are my off the cuff reactions.  Like I said in my last post, I'm sick of them all.  Them all being, anyone who has been tasked with the responsibility of monitoring, managing, whatever role, that the player is in, in regards to making sure things are right in Our Zoo.  Not one person has fulfilled their duty, and I'm disgusted by their sudden care after, at the very least, sixteen years of neglect.  The boo-hooing is shameful, since myself and staff have been shedding tears for Our Zoo for over a decade.

The article is pasted below in bold, but my reactions follow each paragraph and are highlighted.  If you want to read the full article, use the link or skip the highlighted parts.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/zoo-report-19827454.php

First, the article title.  It's sensationalism.  I doubt the Zoo is unsafe for Visitors.  At least there is nothing I know of.  I'd like to know the specifics of that claim.  It should have been included in the article.

The only issue I have with safety, is the Barrier issue I've been roaring about for over a decade.  That said, it's more unsafe for our Bears and Black Rhino than for visitors.  Visitors constantly putting the Animals lives in danger by sitting, standing and hanging their kids over or on those Barriers.  They fall in, and come into contact with one of those code red Animals, the Animals lose their life.  I'm sorry, but the visitor safety in this respect are not my concern.  Follow rules, use some sense and stay safe.  ... Now if there's a concern about Animal escape, again it should be included here.  And the only legitimacy to that would seemingly be if it came from Keeper staff.

The San Francisco Zoo is the subject of a scathing draft report from the San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission.

San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission is just another entity who has had someone on the Joint Zoo Committee panel at least the fourteen+ years, since I started attending meetings and reading the monthly Meeting Minutes. So, again, just like with Commissioner Mazzola being shocked and Board Member, now Chair Melinda Dunn launching her investigation, these people are jumping on the bandwagon, of the Chronicle's continued article series.  ALL these people, have had a responsibility to the Zoo, and have never given a crap about it.  It's disgusting.  Our Zoo would not be in the shape it is, if the San Francisco Zoological Society Board, SF Recreation and Park Dept, and other Joint Zoo Committee Members had been doing the job they were tasked with, which is monitoring the Zoo.  The biggest part of monitoring the Zoo, aside from actually going there and seeing things for themselves, is monitoring the Queen of Suck that is unfortunately still the Director, Tanya Peterson.  

These people can all feign ignorance, but it's been flat out negligence.  And if anyone of them want to debate me about it, bring it on, I've been keeping track of all you all's bullshit.  

The commission, an advisory body to the city, voted unanimously Thursday night to support the recommendations in the report, which called for an audit of the zoo by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The zoo is owned by the city but run by the nonprofit San Francisco Zoological Society.

I'd be interested in knowing just what they've been advising on all these years, because it's not Zoo stuff.  

The report came in response to a Chronicle article published in April that outlined serious concerns among staff about animal welfare and employee safety at the zoo. According to the report, many of the zoo’s enclosures “fail to meet” animal welfare standards the commission expects, including that they provide “enough room for animals to exhibit normal behavior,” “be pleasant to the eye of the patrons” and be safe for the animals, animal caretakers and the public.

"...zoo’s enclosures “fail to meet” animal welfare standards the commission expects,..."  What the serious F?  I seriously can't with this self-righteousness.  Again if these people went to the Zoo at any point in sixteen years, they would have seen what's going and how Peterson has not made the Animal Residents or their living conditions the priority.  

"Parts of the zoo are best described as dilapidated,” the report said. “It looks like an institution that needs a comprehensive, strategic redesign plan to modernize the habitats.” 

Oh you think?  And who's going to fund those redesigns?  Peterson has cried poor since she started in 2008.  She has done near Zero fundraising, and thus veto's Animal Enclosure upgrades.  Yet somehow finds funds for Gardens, Art Installations and most recently, green lighting over a Million Dollars for unnecessary train bullshit.  There are many Animals that have had their needs neglected.  Again, the Orangutans are the current case and point.

"Zoo CEO Tanya Peterson and board chair Melinda Dunn did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Haha, no shit.  Tanya Peterson does not think she has to be responsible to anyone.  She thinks she owns the Zoo, and has allegedly said such to staff.  Dunn, is supporting Peterson because like every other Board Chair and Member, has been negligent in responsibility to the Zoo, either because she doesn't care or is lazy like the rest of them. ... Now that Dunn's investigation is over, will she and Peterson be attending the Joint Zoo Meeting to answer Commissioner Mazzola's questions?

Parisa Safarzadeh, a spokeswoman for Mayor London Breed’s office, said that the commission has raised concerns about the zoo before. She added that the expected arrival of a pair of giant pandas from China next year could help fund upgrades to the zoo.

I call bullshit on this too.  The Pandas are going to cost more money than they will generate in excess funds that would be needed to fix the Zoo.  The Mayor is another one who doesn't care about the Zoo, only about her Pandas. Everyone knows that.  Staff joke that the only Animal who will get anything are the Pandas.  I half joke that if we get Pandas, they will be all the Zoo can afford.  So I hope they are popular enough to keep the Zoo afloat, because they might be the only Animals there!  

The mayor agrees the zoo is in need of revitalization, which is why bringing a global attraction such as the pandas would be ideal — to expedite and invest in improvements and enhancements where necessary,” she said in an email."

The Mayor is delusional, and just chasing Pandas, without seriously thinking about all the factors.  Why?  Because she doesn't care, and doesn't know jack about the Zoo.  Breed and Peterson will be gone after Pandas get here and the City will not give a penny to support the Pandas, and then what?  

Safarzadeh also noted that the zoo exceeds standards set by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

These people need to stop hiding behind AZA Accreditation.  The AZA is another sorry entity, who doesn't care about Animals.  They sent Orangutans to SF knowing they had no dedicated enclosure.  They Orangutans lived exclusively in caged tubes for eight months. It was two years before they got access to an enclosure.  That enclosure is inappropriate for them, and was deemed ancient by the AZA who would not send more Chimpanzees to live in that enclosure, yet sent Orangutans??!?!!  Peterson says no money for Orangutans, even though she chased the acquisition.  And the Joint Zoo Committee approved the acquisition.  So, again, none of the people tasked with the responsibility of keeping the Zoo in healthy shape on all counts, has given a shit about the place.  

Commissioner Jane Tobin compiled the main part of the report after taking a tour of the zoo with Dr. Joe Spinelli, a longtime veterinarian and animal welfare consultant, Michael Angelo Torres, chair of the Animal Control and Welfare Commission, and Justin Barker, an animal rights activist and critic of the zoo who created a website called SF Zoo Watch.

Dr Spinelli is useless.  He's been sitting there for at least fourteen years, doing nothing. He made a comment about the Polar Bears once, yet did nothing to help improve their living conditions.  And Barker, that guy up til recently wanted to see the Zoo close.  Ugh.  This whole parade of people all of a sudden "caring", would be comical if it wasn't so disturbing.  

The report said that though the zoo’s safety measures meet requirements set by U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, they “are minimal and even more frightening — unsafe for the animals and visitors.

Again, what are the safety issues, specifically for visitors? ... The USDA guidelines are a joke, and again the AZA is not only questionable, but inconsistent in their Accreditation process.  SFZoo should never have gotten Accreditation renewed, based soley on the Orangutan situation, which they are fully aware of, because I sent them a very detailed account of their life at the Zoo since day one. ... That all said, requirements must be followed, but to go beyond that, you have to have morals rooted in care, and some sense, and Our Zoo has not been managed by those who possess such.

The zoo has passed all recent inspections from the U.S.D.A. and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which oversee the zoo’s licensing and accreditation.

Again blah, blah, blah. Just stop with this nonsense crutch. Means absolutely nothing.  What means something is Caring.  Having Compassion and Empathy for the Beings who live at the Zoo.  Director Peterson lacks all three, and even jokes about it.

In an interview, Tobin said an example of the group’s safety concerns is a report from employees that the zoo plans to house a jaguar in an enclosure that is open on top and outfitted with hot wire and cantilevers, rather than in one that is completely enclosed in mesh, which the Association of Zoos and Aquariums considers the highest standard of safety for the dangerous big cats.

Well, that's because Tanya Peterson says netting costs too much.  That is why the Orangutans are stuck on tiny Islands.  She won't even fund to finish netting over the Flamingos.  They did a third at start, then added some years later, and it's still not covered.   Several Juveniles escaped and still no care.  That all said, I heard the Jaguar will allegedly not be moving to that enclosure.

Considering that a tiger escaped and killed a patron in the zoo in 2008 and then was killed in the aftermath, said Tobin, “To even go second best, with a minimum standard — that is just a dereliction of duty to the animal, and to the public.

That was in 2007, good grief this Tobin woman doesn't even know when the Tiger event was.  That said, those "patrons" tormented Tatiana into a frenzy.  If the Zoo had better protocols, that may not have happened. Security Protocol now is still shit and allows visitors to put our Animals in danger.  I will again note that management as far back as early 80s, has known that the Tigers could scale the walls.  And why is no one talking about the Barriers at Bears and Black Rhino?

The report will be shared with Peterson, Dunn and others in the Joint Zoo Committee, which includes members of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission, as well as Tobin and Spinelli.

When does the public get to see the report?  I'd like to see what they think are issues.  Not including it here is ridiculous.  All this has been is crumbs of bullshit.  

Prompted by the Chronicle’s investigation and a vote of no-confidence in Peterson by the zoo’s union, the S.F. Zoological Society board recently concluded a five-month investigation. Last month, the board issued a statement saying it had “continued confidence” in Peterson’s leadership, but it has not released the results of its investigation, which was conducted by an outside law firm.

This was not surprising.  Keeping Peterson, who allegedly appointed majority of the Board Members, allows the Board to continue having someone they can defer to, instead of actively doing what the role requires of them.

The Animal Control and Welfare Commission’s report was not critical of all enclosures in the zoo. Commissioners praised the zoo’s lemur exhibit as “exemplary,” describing it as “a large swath of land with trees for climbing and enough space for the lemurs to play and explore.

Again, I want to see this report, not read snips!

But it described an exhibit for langurs as a series of “imposing and dreadful” chain-link cages. “The habitat is a jail from a visitor’s perspective.” Overall, it described the zoo as “uninspiring” for visitors. 

The Langur area is ancient and sad.  That said it was worse when they were holding the Fossa in there. The Langurs are being shipped out and Squirrel Monkeys are rumored to be moving in.  In my opinion, when Peterson grabbed the Donors check for the vanity project that is the MADagascar debacle, displacing five Primate Species, part of the deal should have been that the Donor has to also fund new Aviary style enclosures for those species.  Still, the fix could be to flatten the whole Langur area, and the adjacent area going towards Mandrills, and create two aviaries and a new night quarters.  Unfortunately it is too late for the five+ species that we've lost because of the MAD Want over Animal Needs.  Wants over Needs is how Director Peterson rolls.

The report comes as the zoo is expecting to house giant pandas from China next year. A section of the report focused on plans for the pandas but was contributed by animal rights activists and did not come directly from the commission, Tobin said.

Activists should not be contributing anything.  They don't know anything about the Zoo and only arrived on the scene five months ago.  Good grief.  Where was my invite to this party?  At least I know shit.  Talk to people who care.  The Keepers are the richest source there, yet their opinions aren't utilized near enough, if at all.  That said, if the Commission cared to learn about the Zoo, they wouldn't need the Activists contributions.  

The wrap-up in regards to just things mentioned here... The Mayor needs to fundraise for the Animals that already live at the Zoo. ...  The Board of Supervisors need to squash the Panda nonsense, until the rest of the Zoo's Needs are met. ... Tanya Peterson needs to resign and go far, far, away from the Zoo. 

Related Post: 

https://iamnotananteater.blogspot.com/2024/10/animal-welfare-commission-report-piece.html

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#SanFrancisco , #SanFranciscoZoo , #Zoos #SanFranciscoZoologicalSociety , #SanFranciscoZooDirectorTanyaPeterson , #SanFranciscoRecreationAndParksDept , #SanFranciscoMayorLondonBreed ,  #AssociationOfZoosAndAquariums , #AZA , #SpeciesSurvivalPlan , #SSP , #Animals , #Wildlife , #Nature , #AnimalWelfare , #AnimalCruelty , #AndeanBear , #KomodoDragon , #Chimpanzees ,  #PatasMonkey , #Fossa , #Orangutans , #Barriers , #PerimeterFence, #Pandas