Updates: I talked to keepers about the new Snow leopard. He's supposed to have a breeding rec with the zoos female. Also, the zoo just acquired a second female red panda from the sunset zoo in Kansas. Unclear if she has a breeding rec with kodari. The zoo just received two additional black and white ruffed lemurs to add to their clan. The Aye-ayes are all gone now, and it isn't clear what's going to replace them, though it seems likely it'll stay nocturnal. The zoo is also likely to be acquiring a new penguin species, probably rockhoppers, to add to penguin island. The rainforest building is set to open this summer. The zoos been gradually acquiring a vast collection of herpes (including venomous species) and birds for the building. Almost every Amazonian herp and bird species that the zoo has will be moved there. As of now the sloth and agouti will be the only mammal species residing there.
I-TEAM: San Francisco Zoo on verge of having to give up three elderly chimpanzees | abc7news.com The zoo may send its chimpanzees away. Even though the "triple-grotto" ape enclosures are not up to standards and the chimpanzee group may not be large enough, I think the zoo should wait for the unfortunate instead of sending the elderly chimps away in such a manner.
You know how some curators don't really want visitors roaming their buildings. These people got creative!
I was thinking they could alternate them with the Gorillas in the Gorilla exhibit or chimp proof the Patas enclosure and move the Patas somewhere else, it'd be a nice upgrade.
More on the aging Chimps : S.F. Zoo?s remaining chimps endanger accreditation - San Francisco Chronicle
I haven't been paying attention to the zoo world much as of late -- not since Kabibe's death -- but this came across my desk today: Chimp Change: $1-Million Pledge to SF Zoo Full blurb here. It could be just me, but part of being a " leader in primate care" means you don't off your great apes through neglect or keep them in horribly antiquated structures while blowing three-million bucks on a playground.
Required to build a playground, not spend three-million dollars on it. A million dollars probably would have got you a very nice handicap accessible playground.
The news in that article is that they want to build a $10 million chimpanzee exhibit. Are they just responding to a crisis that threatens their accreditation or are chimps part of a master plan? Is there a master plan?
Granted this is San Fransisco, where anything and everything is supposedly expensive, but yeah, I bet they could have done the playground for much less money. I am getting vibes that SF Zoo is sort of a screwy place.
Master Plans are never blueprints, of course, so responding to current issues is not in confluct with Master Planning. Nonetheless, see here: http://www.sfgov2.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/awcc/meetings/supporting/2010/ACWC 100610 rev 3.pdf
More problems arise...anyone want to try fixing the zoo, a legitimate path to guide the zoo perhaps? Teamsters Allege "Eavesdropping" at San Francisco Zoo, Management Says Technology Was Meant for Medical Emergencies | NBC Bay Area
