San Francisco Zoo blasted for dilapidated, unsafe conditions in new report
The San Francisco Zoo is under fire after an audit report compiled by the San Francisco Animal Control and Welfare Commission called the facility outdated and unsafe for animals and visitors.
Justin Barker, an animal activist and creator of the website SF Zoo Watch said the conditions at the facility point to a history of poor decisions and a lack of understanding of what animals need to thrive. He gave his insights to the author of the audit.
"This is a cry for help. You know, they're really saying something has to happen," Barker said.
The audit report describes the enclosures as old and parts of the zoo as "dilapidated at best." It also noted that facilities were unsafe for visitors. The only enclosure that received a good review was for the lemurs.
Barker, who toured to zoo before the audit was released, says he saw animals like koalas and big cats crammed into small spaces with little room to run or climb. He also says the zoo doesn't plan well for animals it intends to house.
"Minimum standards are okay for theme parks, but really not okay for facilities that are holding sentient animals that that deserve much better than they have at San Francisco Zoo," Barker said.
Barker says the fault lies in failing to update the facility accordingly. Commissioner Jane Tobin and Michael Torres, both members of the Animal Control and Welfare Commission, say they don't think an update would be enough to salvage the zoo. Instead, the city should consider starting from scratch.
"There are so many habitats that need a redesign that some of it just needs to be scrapped and started over," Tobin said.
Both Tobin and Torres say another audit is needed to understand how money is being spent on the facility and what improvements can be made. So far, commissioner Tobin says the reaction from the zoo's supervisors have been in support of that.
"A performance audit of this joint zoo, or of the zoo rather, and one was done in 2003 but to have a full audit done by a budget analyst within the city would be important right now." Tobin said.
Back at home, Barker said he hopes the city will take the report into consideration before housing more animals.
The San Francisco Zoo responded to the report in a statement, saying in part, "The report has serious inaccuracies and was created based on a hypothetical scenario."
The statement went on to say, "We are proud of the industry leading care and safe habitats we provide for all our animals."
The zoo said it was most recently accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in March of 2022. It was based on an independent four-day inspection as well as conversations with dozens of zoo staff members and officials.
The AZA found no significant welfare or safety issues.