Thursday, December 15, 2011

one stop synop to all my zoo related sites

i have created a new blog that contains the information below, which is a one stop synop to all my zoo related sites. the direct url is http://mysanfranciscozooexperience.blogspot.com/

i am posting the information here in this post, as i've been told the way the address is linking isn't consistently working. I'm posting here as a back up so those who are interested in the san francisco zoo animals plus ;) will be able to access the blog/site of interest.

thankx for visiting! cheers!

if you've visited any of my other blogs over the past couple years, you know i have alot to say! most of it good, some of it not. all of it in the name of my past passion for the zoo and my forever passion for the animals who call it home.

as a native san franciscan, the sfzoo is a place i've visited all my life. as a young adult until earlier this year, i was a member. in 2008 i lost my kitty of 20 years and found some comfort from my tremendous grief in my zoo visits, which became several times a week. from those frequent visits i became endeared to the animals who live there. i learned more about them in several ways. i read every article in the sfgate.com archive, i read all the minutes from the past ten years of the joint zoo committee monthly meetings and i engaged keepers in conversation.

i wanted to share what i was learning, so i started my first blog and named it after my precious zoo friend, goober.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
june 20, 2009 - march 20, 2011
goobers sfzoo friends
gooberssfzoofriends.blogspot.com

october 17, 2009 - ongoing
youtube.com/user/leo811sf

the most zoo friend video's anywhere! i try to upload clips after each visit :)

january 16, 2010 - august 2011
goobers sfzoo friends photo site
gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com

i started this photo site as a supplement to the goober blog. i had so many great captures of the zoo friends that didn't fit on the blog and i wanted to share them. i stopped updating this recently, but there are 99 photo albums, with thousands of great photos of all the friends!

august 6, 2010 - march 20, 2011
the big cat nip!
thebigcatnip.blogspot.com

for most of 2010, my friend lee and i were lucky to have the opportunity to make enrichment toys for the big cats and on occasion the bears. it was an incredible experience that provided priceless memories for us, the keepers, the visitors and most importantly the animals! for many months, the big cats had super fun, with tons of toys every saturday! see all the fun here!

november 29,2010
padang's 21!
http://tigerbirthday.blogspot.com/

almost one year ago, female sumatran tiger padang celebrated her milestone birthday when she turned 21 years old! she is believed to be the oldest living tiger of any species in a north american zoo. we wanted her to have a big celebration, so we went all out, so her and all her big cat neighbors could have a birthday blast! read about padang and see some photos here :)

november 29, 2010
padang's party photo site
http://padangsparty.shutterfly.com

see all the photos of padang and all her friends at the party here!

january 28, 2011
ulu turns 30!
bearbirthdays.blogspot.com

female polar bear ulu, also celebrated a milestone birthday in 2010, when she turned 30! making her believed to be the oldest female polar bear living in a north american zoo! with all the bears celebrating birthdays in consecutive months, we asked if we could have a collective bear party in november. so we made toys for all, andean bear wishbone turned 24 on october 25th, polar bear pike turned 28 on november 25th, ulu turned 30 on december 25th and the grizzly sisters kiona and kachina turned 8 on january 1st. there was zoo drama and the bear party didn't happen until january 22nd. no worries as the bears don't care what day it is as long as there's toys! read about there special celebration here, and visit the gooberssfzoo photo site and view each bears photo album from the party!

march 4, 2011 - ongoing
san francisco zoo crime
sanfranciscozoocrime.blogspot.com

sadly this blog marked the begining of my negative posting about the zoo. please note that when i say "zoo" i mean zoo management. after all the positive stuff my friend and i did for the zoo, management turned on us and spread untruths. a week after we reported someone over the barrier at the bear grotto, we both had our memberships revoked. if you want the play by play of this ongoing crime drama, this blog is the place to get it. i will make one more post to this blog at the end of this week.

april 25, 2011 - ongoing
project get wishbone grass
projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com

prior to having my membership revoked i began privately seeking out how i could help get this poor bear some grass. after my membership was revoked i decided to make my crusade public. wishbone lives exclusively on concrete and has for years. this is not only unnatural, its inhumane and disrespectful. i have done alot of outreach and online networking to try and nudge the zoo, but i guess they just don't care. its an outrageous disgrace. you can read about sweet wishy, his plight and my crusade on his behalf on this blog.

may 22, 2011 - ongoing
san francisco zoo FAILS
sanfranciscozoofails.blogspot.com

another post revoke blog. there are many things not right at the zoo. they are all fixable. most were avoidable in the first place, at least that is how it appears to me. i used to pass these observations, suggestions and such on to the director, that was until she took away my membership based on lies. so i started publicly calling out all the things i think are a problem. it kinda bogs me down to do so. believe me, i was much happier when i was just writing the happy goober blog, but times have changed and things just aren't right and they should be. the zoo is not all that it can be, and it should step it up for the sake of the animals. i am trying to taper this blog off and just combine all my observations into one blog. so if you're curious about what i think is just not right at the sfzoo, this is the blog to read.

coming soon
i am not an anteater!
iamnotananteater.blogspot.com

i hope for this to be my only blog as of 2012. i plan to share my visit as i see it. that said, it will be many things. photos and notations about the wonderful zoo friends. curious and ridiculous zoo issues. disturbing and evil visitor behavior. ... fyi its goober that is not an anteater! lol! every visit, there i stand with my bairds tapir friend and someone comes by and calls him an anteater! ???

if you've visited any of my other blogs over the past couple years, you know i have alot to say! most of it good, some of it not. all of it in the name of my past passion for the zoo and my forever passion for the animals who call it home.

as a native san franciscan, the sfzoo is a place i've visited all my life. as a young adult until earlier this year, i was a member. in 2008 i lost my kitty of 20 years and found some comfort from my tremendous grief in my zoo visits, which became several times a week. from those frequent visits i became endeared to the animals who live there. i learned more about them in several ways. i read every article in the sfgate.com archive, i read all the minutes from the past ten years of the joint zoo committee monthly meetings and i engaged keepers in conversation.

i wanted to share what i was learning, so i started my first blog and named it after my precious zoo friend, goober.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
june 20, 2009 - march 20, 2011
goobers sfzoo friends
gooberssfzoofriends.blogspot.com

october 17, 2009 - ongoing
youtube.com/user/leo811sf

the most zoo friend video's anywhere! i try to upload clips after each visit :)

january 16, 2010 - august 2011
goobers sfzoo friends photo site
gooberssfzoofriends.shutterfly.com

i started this photo site as a supplement to the goober blog. i had so many great captures of the zoo friends that didn't fit on the blog and i wanted to share them. i stopped updating this recently, but there are 99 photo albums, with thousands of great photos of all the friends!

august 6, 2010 - march 20, 2011
the big cat nip!
thebigcatnip.blogspot.com

for most of 2010, my friend lee and i were lucky to have the opportunity to make enrichment toys for the big cats and on occasion the bears. it was an incredible experience that provided priceless memories for us, the keepers, the visitors and most importantly the animals! for many months, the big cats had super fun, with tons of toys every saturday! see all the fun here!

november 29,2010
padang's 21!
http://tigerbirthday.blogspot.com/

almost one year ago, female sumatran tiger padang celebrated her milestone birthday when she turned 21 years old! she is believed to be the oldest living tiger of any species in a north american zoo. we wanted her to have a big celebration, so we went all out, so her and all her big cat neighbors could have a birthday blast! read about padang and see some photos here :)

november 29, 2010
padang's party photo site
http://padangsparty.shutterfly.com

see all the photos of padang and all her friends at the party here!

january 28, 2011
ulu turns 30!
bearbirthdays.blogspot.com

female polar bear ulu, also celebrated a milestone birthday in 2010, when she turned 30! making her believed to be the oldest female polar bear living in a north american zoo! with all the bears celebrating birthdays in consecutive months, we asked if we could have a collective bear party in november. so we made toys for all, andean bear wishbone turned 24 on october 25th, polar bear pike turned 28 on november 25th, ulu turned 30 on december 25th and the grizzly sisters kiona and kachina turned 8 on january 1st. there was zoo drama and the bear party didn't happen until january 22nd. no worries as the bears don't care what day it is as long as there's toys! read about there special celebration here, and visit the gooberssfzoo photo site and view each bears photo album from the party!

march 4, 2011 - ongoing
san francisco zoo crime
sanfranciscozoocrime.blogspot.com

sadly this blog marked the begining of my negative posting about the zoo. please note that when i say "zoo" i mean zoo management. after all the positive stuff my friend and i did for the zoo, management turned on us and spread untruths. a week after we reported someone over the barrier at the bear grotto, we both had our memberships revoked. if you want the play by play of this ongoing crime drama, this blog is the place to get it. i will make one more post to this blog at the end of this week.

april 25, 2011 - ongoing
project get wishbone grass
projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com

prior to having my membership revoked i began privately seeking out how i could help get this poor bear some grass. after my membership was revoked i decided to make my crusade public. wishbone lives exclusively on concrete and has for years. this is not only unnatural, its inhumane and disrespectful. i have done alot of outreach and online networking to try and nudge the zoo, but i guess they just don't care. its an outrageous disgrace. you can read about sweet wishy, his plight and my crusade on his behalf on this blog.

may 22, 2011 - ongoing
san francisco zoo FAILS
sanfranciscozoofails.blogspot.com

another post revoke blog. there are many things not right at the zoo. they are all fixable. most were avoidable in the first place, at least that is how it appears to me. i used to pass these observations, suggestions and such on to the director, that was until she took away my membership based on lies. so i started publicly calling out all the things i think are a problem. it kinda bogs me down to do so. believe me, i was much happier when i was just writing the happy goober blog, but times have changed and things just aren't right and they should be. the zoo is not all that it can be, and it should step it up for the sake of the animals. i am trying to taper this blog off and just combine all my observations into one blog. so if you're curious about what i think is just not right at the sfzoo, this is the blog to read.

coming soon
i am not an anteater!
iamnotananteater.blogspot.com

i hope for this to be my only blog as of 2012. i plan to share my visit as i see it. that said, it will be many things. photos and notations about the wonderful zoo friends. curious and ridiculous zoo issues. disturbing and evil visitor behavior. ... fyi its goober that is not an anteater! lol! every visit, there i stand with my bairds tapir friend and someone comes by and calls him an anteater! ???

What's Wrong at the SFZOO aka Stupid Things I See and Hear

I feel ya Cobster!

What's Wrong at the San Francisco Zoo.

That's right, its not a question.

I've started a new blog so I have a place to post about my visits after each one. Photos and bits about the precious Animals who live there and the observations I make about everything else (iamnotananteater.blogspot.com). Contrary to what is probably believed, I hate that this is my go to place to rant about things that just aren't right at the San Francisco Zoo. I hate that I even have things to rant about. Its exhausting. I much preferred when all I did was blog about the Animals and what they are up to (gooberssfzoofriends.blogspot.com). That was before the Zoo Director, one Curator and whoever else bought into their made-up drama, decided to involuntary drag me into their politics and school yard games. So, instead I'll just make a list and keep adding to it.

There is much great stuff at the Zoo, starting with all the Animals who live there and most of the Keepers. With all the Zoo has going for it, its curious to me that Management doesn't strive to make the Zoo be all it can be. Sometimes I wonder if Management really thinks they are doing a bang up job or if they know they aren't and just don't care? If they do think they are doing all they can, maybe this list will find its way to them and they can see that they are not. At least from the prospective of a regular Visitor, who happens to know much about the Animals and the place they live.

12.7.11 -  Free day and not one Security Guard was seen!  UNBelievable!!!  < not really ;(  ... The thing is, the Zoo knows there's more misbehavior on free day, as they put out metal police type barriers at Chimps and Gorillas.  If they know this to be, why aren't there more Security on this day?  If they know the Chimps and Gorillas to be "hot spots"  why isn't there a Docent posted at these areas everyday?  


*Not enough Security.  Why aren't the Docents utilized as additional eyes and ears in regards to misbehaving Visitors?   Why aren't they trained for this?  ... Additionally, why aren't the Docents AND the Security assigned certain areas to watch?  I continually see Docents wandering together.  They should have assigned areas.  As well should the Security Guards.  The Guards are never around and when you do see one they fly by on a bike.   They should be in the hot spots and if needed be called to that area.


*The Zoo's Pet People and Staff saying inappropriate things.



> A Zoo Staffer in the Education Department was standing next to me at the Bairds Tapir enclosure.  There was a couple with their child there as well.  She said, "He's really old and (a reference to his medical condition).   ... It was in very bad taste.  For one, at 16, the Bairds Tapir is not even half the life expectancy of that Species in captivity.  So, that's just great for someone in Education lol!   AND there is no reason to be offering medical information.   If someone asks, that is different, although not in the way this was done.  This gal should stay in the Education Building and not talk to Visitors.


> The gal who gives the Zoo photos of the Animals to use as they please (this is why they love her/use her, same thing) posted a comment on Facebook in which she said, "The Goats are buttheads"   Nice.  Calling the Animals names.  If the Goats could talk I'm sure they would have a few choice words for her.  My choice words, stay off the Farm!  ... Will also note this same gal did a photo presentation at an event I attended and got an Animals name wrong and not even the Zoo Staff, including the Director  noticed.  


*Docents who don't know which animal is which.  Why are they Docents if they don't care enough to learn about the animals they are docent-ing about?  Why aren't they trained for this and given brush-up tests?  


> One would think someone not only that is the head/leader of a docent group at an animal facility would be respectful of all animals, but this was a recent comment by such a person on an article thread in regard to the Banana Sam Monkey Theft.  ....    "Oh, it was a squirrel MONKEY, not a squirrel. Miscreants are welcome to the squirrels; they don't belong to the zoo." ... Horrible!  So, Monkeys and better then Squirrels in her opinion.  Is she a hunter too?  Where does the Zoo find these people and why are they allowed to speak?  Horrible.

>I recently heard one Docent tell a Visitor that the female Sumatran was a Male Bengal lol!  The lol is of how ridiculous this is.  We don't have any male Tigers and we don't have any Bengal Tigers.  Score two for this Docent!


> I heard Tucker (Hippo) vocalizing a honking sound I had heard before when he is upset.  I looked over to see if anyone was bothering him and I saw a Docent using a Keeper training signal and getting him all worked up.  This Docent was walking around with two Visitors earlier as I saw them at Rhinos and he commented that Gene (male) was grumpy.  Gene "I got your grumpy right here!"


> A Docent answered the question, "What do the Big Cats eat?"  ,  "All the Animals get some kind of Chow."  LOL!  These aren't house cats and they don't eat kibble.


*Inappropriate wording in Press Releases.  You would think Someone who has a job in PR would be word savvy.  


>The wording (which I will have to find and paste here) in regards to the passing of African Lion Tunya recently, was disrespectful.   They basically said, We will miss Tunya, but now we can put Sukari with the other two and build a pride.  No break in the sentence.  That just isn't the way you say Goodbye.  Catch your breath before looking to the future.  It hurt my heart.  It was like, well now we can do want we had planned.  Horrible.  ... They have released other inappropriate things in the past in reference to Senior Animals, like using the words, old and elderly.  Like noting that when Tony (Tiger was stuck in the moat, that he was surrounded by his urine and feces.  Were those details necessary to the story?  NO!   Whoever wrote  that one, I sure hope you are stuck one day in your mess and the world finds out.  Think with compassion people.