Animal Protection Group Calls for Transformation to Animal-Focused Rescue Zoo

 

San Francisco, CA . . . Zoo experts from the U.S., U.K. and Australia, gathered in San Francisco for a private meeting this weekend, have toured the San Francisco Zoo and identified serious animal welfare concerns. In response, In Defense of Animals (IDA) will call on the city to address these problems and transform the troubled institution into an animal-focused, rescue zoo.

 

The experts include:

• Peter Stroud, 27 years zoo industry experience, including zoo management and development as former Senior Curator Melbourne Zoo and Former Director of Werribee Open Range Zoo in Australia.
  
  
• Les Schobert, 30-year zoo veteran, formal general curator North Carolina and Los Angeles Zoos.
  
  
• Dr. Robert Atkinson, former Curator of Woburn Safari Park, U.K. and Head of Wildlife Department for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).

 

“The San Francisco Zoo is an outdated facility with many exhibits that raise serious animal welfare concerns,” the experts agree. They found evidence that zoo management is failing to provide an adequate environment for animals and not incorporating current knowledge about animal welfare and modern, progressive zoo practices and animal care.

 

Even the newest exhibits, such as the African Savannah, show a lack of “animal-mindedness,” due to poor design that fails to take into consideration the needs of the animal species housed within. Other exhibits of concern include the chimpanzees, housed in an outdated, concrete pit with tiny islands in the middle, and the polar bears, confined to an antiquated concrete grotto of the type that has been widely discredited world-wide. Many animals at the zoo exhibit stereotypic behaviors due to their impoverished environments.

 

The experts deemed several of the exhibits “unacceptable.”

 

“San Francisco deserves a zoo that makes its citizens proud,” said Suzanne Roy, Program Director of In Defense of Animals. “In Defense of Animals is calling for a transformation of this zoo into an institution that puts the animals first and focuses on rescue situations for exotic and native wildlife and other animals in need of quality care.”

 

IDA is calling for Board of Supervisor to convene hearings on the inhumane conditions at the zoo and the pressing need to transform it into an institution that places priority on the well-being of animals and teaches the public to respect animals and the environments in which they live.

 

IDA is an international animal rescue and advocacy organization based in San Rafael, CA.

 

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