IDA calls for open process in selecting zoo leadership

San Francisco, Calif. . . .  In Defense of Animals (IDA) and local residents today called on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to support Supervisor Chris Daly’s ordinance, introduced yesterday, to reform the San Francisco Zoo. Daly’s ordinance will require the zoo to transition to a rescue-based facility and establish an animal welfare oversight committee. The ordinance implements recommendations made in March by the city's Animal Control and Welfare Commission, which undertook a review of animal welfare concerns at the city-owned zoo.

In the aftermath of last week’s news about a shakeup in zoo management, IDA also called on the San Francisco Zoological Society, which is contracted by the city to manage and operate the zoo, to involve the animal protection community in the recruiting process to replace the director. IDA seeks a candidate who reflects San Francisco's progressive community values. 

The zoo has been plagued by animal welfare problems for years. In 1999, the city's Budget Analyst Audit cited numerous animal welfare deficiencies and recommended prioritizing animal welfare and improving animal enclosures. The Audit's recommendations have been largely ignored by the zoo.

In 2004, two elephants prematurely died within weeks of each other from health problems created by zoo conditions. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors was forced to intervene when the San Francisco Zoological Society and Recreation and Parks Commission, which provides city oversight of the zoo, refused to address the elephant problems. The Supervisors ordered the zoo to close the inadequate elephant exhibits and transfer the surviving elephants to a California sanctuary.

“Supervisor Daly’s resolution is a much-needed effort to hold the Zoological Society and Recreation and Parks Commission accountable for the management of the zoo, and in particular, the welfare of the animals in their charge,” said Suzanne Roy, campaign director for IDA. “We thank Supervisor Daly for introducing this important measure and urge the Supervisors to back it as a way of achieving what all San Franciscans want: a zoo that reflects our community’s values and provides the best possible quality of life for the animals in our care.”

Earlier this year three former zoo curators visited the San Francisco Zoo and identified numerous, long-standing animal welfare problems that continue despite the zoo’s expenditure of nearly $50 million in the past decade on capital improvements. Most of this money (which actually cost taxpayers upwards of $80 million including interest and debt service) was spent on visitor amenities, while many of the animals languish in decades-old, unhealthy conditions.

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