About SF Zoo Watch
The San Francisco Zoo is broken. Current management has failed its animals, its staff, and the city’s residents. SF Zoo Watch exists to hold them accountable—and to push for a zoo that puts animals first.
Since launching in 2024, this watchdog project has:
A Quick Primer
The San Francisco Zoo was publicly run until 1993, when it entered a $4.2 million/year private-public partnership with the San Francisco Zoological Society. Oversight is handled by a rubber-stamp Joint Zoo Committee made up of Rec & Park and Zoo Society appointees. The result? Decades of neglect.
In 2024, the San Francisco Chronicle published a bombshell investigation:
Kiona the grizzly escaped her enclosure and chased a keeper
Orangutans Berani and Judy were confined to rat-infested indoor cages
Keeper resignations surged amid claims of mismanagement and safety concerns
These are not isolated incidents. From the 2007 tiger escape and death, to the thefts of Banana Sam and Maki, to the crushing death of Kabibe the gorilla, the zoo has been plagued by preventable tragedies, outdated facilities, and secrecy—including illegal refusals to release public records.
What We’re Fighting For
Real, meaningful change:
Cancel the panda plan—the risk to these animals is too great
End the SF Zoological Society’s contract and bring in new leadership
Establish real animal welfare oversight
Transform the zoo into an EcoPark focused on rescue, not exhibition
Support the Work
I’d invite you to become a paid subscriber. This work will always remain free to access. There are no paywalls—just a chance to support reporting and advocacy that makes a difference.
Your subscription helps fund:
Investigations and public records requests
Photography and outreach
Strategic media and policy efforts
About Me
I’ve spent the last two decades exposing problems at the SF Zoo.
Read my Op-Eds in the San Francisco Standard.
📰 The Worst-Run City Zoo in America
📰 It’s no place for giant pandas
In 2008, I helped secure a city commission recommendation to transform the zoo into a rescue facility—ignored by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom. In 2019, I filed records requests and fought a three-year battle when the zoo refused to comply. The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force ultimately ruled in my favor, confirming the zoo broke transparency laws and violated its city contract.
My activism started at 13, when I launched Citizens Lobbying for Animals in Zoos and successfully rescued two black bears from a roadside zoo. That story is the subject of my memoir, Bear Boy: The True Story of a Boy, Two Bears, and the Fight to Be Free.
Outside this project, I work as a director and producer of documentaries and educational series. I live in San Francisco with my wife, Bridget, and our two kids, Noah and Uma.
Thank you for being part of this. Let’s keep going.
—Justin
Some housekeeping…
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