Authored by Jeremy Portnoy via RealClearInvestigations,
Topline: The taxpayer-funded San Francisco Zoo "does not have a healthy or stable financial condition," according to a city audit released in May. The zoo has no written plans or budgets to guide its construction projects, and spent $12 million on them without city approval. Employees are also allegedly hiring their friends and relatives as contractors.
Key facts: The zoo is required to get approval from San Francisco's Recreation and Park Commission before paying more than $50,000 for a construction project. But employees never did so while spending millions on a new "Madagascar Center" and other huge projects, auditors found.
There is also a "widespread view among staff that [the zoo] has a toxic workplace environment," according to the audit. Employees were allegedly chosen for senior roles based on "discrimination and favoritism," not "professional qualifications."
The zoo spends more than $4 million on contracted services like security and advertising every year, but there is no evidence that any of them went through a competitive bidding process to find the best price. The zoo keeps no records of its contractors and was unable to tell auditors how much they are being paid, the audit found.
The audit also confirmed that former zoo CEO Tanya Peterson's fiancé was hired to perform concerts, and other relatives of zoo staff received more than $800,000 for construction projects. The San Francisco Chronicle first exposed the nepotism allegations in 2024, which eventually contributed to Peterson's resignation.
The City of San Francisco gives the zoo $4 million in funding every year, though that amount has not increased since 1993. Most of the zoo's revenue comes from tickets, but low attendance has caused the zoo to outspend its budget for at least the last eight years. The zoo hid this fact from the city by projecting "unrealistically high" attendance numbers each year and making purchases based on the inflated revenue that never materialized, according to the audit.
Oversight of the zoo has been difficult because employees are ignoring public records requests, according to the audit. They claim that because the zoo is a nonprofit, it is exempt from open records laws, but the zoo signed an agreement years ago to share all records as if it were a city agency.
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Background: The city plans to bail out the zoo with an $8.5 million loan after a city-commissioned report found that closing the zoo or finding a new operator would be more expensive.
The zoo is also planning to bring in pandas from China to fill a new exhibit that will cost $27 million to build. Activist groups like In Defense of Animals have opposed the proposal, arguing the zoo cannot properly care for new animals until it fixes its financial problems.
Summary: San Francisco's zoo has a responsibility to its animals and to taxpayers to manage its money through a carefully-planned budget, not endless deficits.
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