SF Zoo Is Breaking the Law—Demand Action from the Mayor
As the Zoo withholds public records, the city scrambles to enforce its own rules.
For years, I’ve filed records requests, raised red flags, and urged city officials to hold the Zoo accountable—for its treatment of animals, misuse of public resources, and refusal to comply with basic transparency rules. Time and again, those efforts have largely been met with silence, delay, and deflection.
A recent check-in on one of my complaints pulled the curtain back even further. At the May 7th meeting of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, city officials confirmed—on the record—what I’ve long known: the San Francisco Zoo is blatantly ignoring the law, operating on public funds with zero accountability.
Oversight bodies say they lack the authority. SF Rec and Park insists its hands are tied. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Zoo continues to operate with impunity—stonewalling records, neglecting animals, and silencing staff.
This is a full-scale accountability scandal—undermining public trust, and exposing the City’s inability to enforce its own laws.
The Mayor’s Office must act.
These records matter because transparency is where change begins. And if history tells us anything, it’s that when San Franciscans demand better—they make it happen.
Demand Action from the Mayor
The San Francisco Zoo is violating the law—and the City has so far failed to hold it accountable. That can change, but only if we raise our voices.
Contact Mayor Daniel Lurie
Ask him to take immediate action to enforce the Zoo’s legal obligations, uphold transparency, and ensure accountability. Also, urge him to do what’s necessary to remove Tanya Peterson from her role as CEO of the San Francisco Zoological Society.
📧 Email: daniel.lurie@sfgov.org
📞 Call: 415-554-6141
The Records That Never Came
This case began with a basic request, as I sought internal records on how the Zoo conducts its operations, including animal record, medical treatments, acquisition and transfer paperwork, conservation spending, and communications involving Mayor London Breed’s Office and zoo leadership—particularly around the controversial panda plan. After months of silence and evasion, the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force ruled the Zoo was in violation of public transparency laws and ordered them to comply.
They didn’t.
The Recreation and Park Department, which oversees the Zoo through a unique contract, then stepped in to help facilitate compliance. General Manager Phil Ginsburg even sent a letter to Zoo Director Tanya Peterson, explicitly instructing the Zoo to turn over the records by May 1st.
By the time the Task Force met to review progress—on May 7th—no records had been provided.
Not a single one.
A Decade of Stonewalling
Rec and Park’s representative, Ashley Summers, told the Task Force that although she had formally requested the records from the Zoo, they flatly refused—citing legal advice from their private counsel.
This wasn’t a bureaucratic hiccup. It was business as usual.
For years, the San Francisco Zoo has stonewalled public records requests—delaying, denying, and dodging even the most basic disclosures. This is despite the fact that the Zoo operates on public land, under a public contract, responsible for the wellbeing of animals under the city’s care. Under its 1993 Lease and Management Agreement, it is unquestionably subject to California’s public transparency laws.
My most recent request only underscored the Zoo’s defiance. I asked for records related to Oscar the gorilla, who lived at the San Francisco Zoo for 21 years before dying under suspicious circumstances. The Zoo’s chilling response? Oscar didn’t “belong” to them—so they claimed they had no obligation to release any records at all. Not to the public. Not to the city. Not even to the agency tasked with oversight.
That’s not just evasive. It’s a systemic refusal to be held accountable.
A Broken System—or a Captured One?
The Task Force members were visibly frustrated. One by one, they asked the same question: What is the City actually going to do to enforce the law?
Dean Schmidt pointed out that case law requires the City to make reasonable efforts to retrieve public records held by contractors.
Bruce Wolfe questioned whether Rec and Park might need to subpoena their own contractor.
Lila LaHood raised the obvious: Shouldn’t the Mayor’s Office step in when a public-facing agency defies the law?
The Mayor’s designee, Jack Livingston, said he would “navigate available channels.” It was the first public acknowledgment of mayoral involvement—but no timeline or next steps were offered.
Meanwhile, the Zoo continues to operate in the shadows.
Accountability Sinkhole
What became unmistakably clear during the hearing was this: the standard tools of accountability are not working. The San Francisco Zoo isn’t a city department—it’s a contractor. That distinction shields it from direct oversight. The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force has no subpoena power. And Rec and Park, while acknowledging the Zoo’s noncompliance, claims it has no authority to enforce compliance.
This is what systemic failure looks like.
Even when public officials try to do the right thing, a politically connected contractor—armed with private attorneys and protected by decades of institutional complacency—can grind accountability to a halt. And in this case, that contractor is running a Zoo plagued by animal neglect, staff mistreatment, and financial opacity—while housing vulnerable animals on public land, under a cloud of secrecy, and funded with millions in taxpayer dollars.
So where does that leave us?
With silence. Delay. And a Zoo that continues to act as though the rules don’t apply.
The City has acknowledged the violations. It has admitted its inability to enforce the law.
Now, for the first time, the Mayor’s Office is officially involved. Daniel Lurie came into office pledging to root out corruption and restore public trust. This is a clear opportunity to act on that commitment.
Because this isn’t just about a records request—it’s a test of whether San Francisco’s public institutions protect the public and the animals in their care, or protect the people who explicit break the law.
And what happens next will tell us everything.