Upgrades Start! - Wednesday March 18, 2015 Visit Report

Great news to report! Attention being paid to Chimps! 

The rusty structure in grotto 2 has been sanded and painted!

before

after

My original thought for that old thing was to remove it, to create a larger surface area.  I still think that would be ideal, but if painting it, therefore removing the rust that could be dangerous works, that's fine. Maybe removing it would be too costly and disruptive?   The Chimps peace is primary in any upgrade consideration.  As well, if too costly, that money going towards the new exhibit would be the better use of it.

Word is the building that houses their night quarters is next!   That building has had peeling paint for over seven years.

Someone who I told this great news to, said, "I would argue that chimps don't care if a place is painted. That's more for the PR than for the animals' care."

I completely disagree.  Yes, its definitely considered aesthetic, but in my opinion, not keeping up with regular maintenance, shows the level of disrespect and disregard shown to the Chimps over many years.  Its the bare minimum that could have been done and never was.  That is why I point this out and push for it to be done.

Frankly, with the Chimp exhibit being a main focal point in the front end of the Zoo, you would think keeping it looking nice would be something the Management would want to do.  But, we all know the attention priorities have been lacked proper Direction for years.

This level of lack of attention, would lead anyone to believe that after the misappropriation of funds from the 1997 City Bond, that Management through the years always had a plan to eventually move the Chimps.  Director Peterson inherited that, but that didn't mean she had to keep that position.  She chose to.  Three Directors let them languish til the situation became a literal push/shove, after losing Tallulah. Thankfully after 18 years of Shame, public outcry has got the Zoo to show these Friends some Love!

Finally, something Shiny and New for the Chimps! Wasn't that hard San Francisco Zoo , was it?   What did it cost you, a few cans of paint and a couple days man power?  Donations weren't need for that, that is regular up keep.

This would be an awesome paint job, but I doubt we'll ever see a guideline so bold.  ... They had the Giants logo painted there for years, why not something that would benefit the Chimps?

I've had a few "Inspirational" message signs in draft for over a year.  I got the idea when I started seeing them as wall art in stores and online.  The Zoo has many spaces where messages of respect and behavior can be put, that would be in Visitors eye sight more than (in addition to) the lite level of signage already in place.

Hope to see or hear soon that there will be some additional signage in some way to deter the constant Visitor disruption to the Chimps.  It would be useful for other Animals, but the Chimps exhibit the stress very physically.  As well, my suggestion of providing them with a tree lined barrier, to veil their direct eye contact with the Visitors, both out of common sense and per AZA guidelines.

Note:

Joint Zoo Meeting Tonight

SFZoo 5p

Look forward to hearing an update from Director Peterson in regard to the Chimps.  

* What upgrades are planned and what's the timeline?

Would also be curious on how much money has been donated through the website effort.