S.F. Zoo's history of mismanagement; morale down under new director

[Refugee 7]

A koala is kidnapped. Sheep are molested by a human intruder. An elephant does a headstand on a technician, breaking her pelvis. A tiger ravages its keeper's arm. A year later, on Christmas Day, the same feline escapes, kills and gets killed.

This is what life can be like at the San Francisco Zoo, a 78-year-old institution saddled with a history of mismanagement and scores of injuries to animals, employees and visitors alike - yet still beloved by generations of Bay Area residents.

It's almost as if the place is cursed.

Tuesday's attack by Tatiana, a Siberian tiger that broke out of her yard, fatally mauled a teenager and injured two of his friends before being shot to death by police, has captured international attention.

From Paris to Beijing, people are asking: How could this happen?

"For the next 50 years, it's what the San Francisco Zoo will be remembered for," said one high-ranking former employee.

The very public tragedy overshadows decades of problems - and the troubles of the current zoo administration, which began in February 2004 when Manuel Mollinedo became director of the 100-acre facility.

Almost four years later, attendance has increased, celebrations built around ethnic holidays have drawn crowds, new arrivals such as KuneKune pigs have proved popular, and two splashy exhibits - Hearst Grizzly Gulch and the long-planned African Savanna - have opened.

However, problems have multiplied and employee morale has plummeted.

"It's never been this bad," one worker said.

For this story, Mollinedo declined to talk. "Manuel is not doing interviews," Lora LaMarca, the zoo's director of marketing and public relations, said Friday.

The director's tenure has been highly eventful.

Three of the zoo's four elephants have died since March 2004 - two at the zoo, a third at a Calaveras County sanctuary where it was sent, broken-down and ailing. The lone survivor still lives there. The fight over the pachyderms' fate, taken up by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and animal rights activists, enraged the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which tabled the zoo's accreditation for a year.

Puddles, a venerable 44-year-old hippopotamus, died in May, a day after a move that some employees say was bungled and others say should never have been made.

This summer, two giant elands, valued at $30,000 apiece, were killed by their peer soon after all three arrived at the zoo, during a quarantine that sources say was doomed and mishandled. Two black swans, introduced with much fanfare in May 2006, also didn't last long.

A year ago June, some parakeets in the zoo's big summer blockbuster, Binnowee Landing, tested positive for psittacine beak-and-feather disease, which is contagious and often fatal to other birds, including family pets. The zoo knew about the problem but did not warn visitors until it was reported in the press.

In April 2005, even a grizzly bear naming contest turned into a public relations nightmare when some zoo officials heavily promoted the event while others canceled it, preferring to auction the naming rights to the highest bidder.

Meanwhile, plans were quietly killed for the Great Ape Forest exhibit, highlighted in a $48 million city bond measure approved by voters in 1997 to upgrade the zoo. And four would-be inhabitants - aging wild-born chimpanzees- are still living in a concrete grotto while their handler continues her lonely quest to make sure their rare and invaluable genes are passed on through breeding.

The chimps' longtime zookeeper, Lisa Hamburger, has occasionally appeared at monthly meetings of the Joint Zoo Committee, a city panel that oversees the zoo, to plead her case. As she prepared to speak one afternoon, Mollinedo got up and walked out of the room.

That kind of behavior is no surprise to Mollinedo's current and former employees, as well as those who worked under him at the Los Angeles Zoo, where he was director from 1995 to 2002.

"It would appear that his management style - which downplays the value of staff and the welfare of animals - remains in place," said a former worker from the Los Angeles Zoo.

A departed San Francisco Zoo manager concurred.

"It's a top-down mentality that the zoo has adopted," he said. "And I think it's very dangerous."

Since Mollinedo took over, there has been a steady exodus of employees, including the deputy director, education director, two successive public relations managers, development director, curator of birds, marketing manager, events director, human resources manager, general manager of concessions and a number of veteran keepers.

Michele Rudovsky, associate curator of hoofstock and pachyderms, starting working at the zoo as a teenager but quit in August after more than a quarter-century. Head veterinarian Freeland Dunker also resigned and will depart in early January for the California Academy of Sciences.

Most of those who left, sources say, were fed up or pushed out.

"What walked out the door was 200-plus years of incredible animal experience - and you can't afford that," said former penguin keeper Jane Tollini, who quit in 2005 after 24 years.

Still, she misses her old life a lot.

"The zoo is my home away from my home," Tollini said. "And I felt like it was always an honor, every single day, to go to work and feel accepted by the animals. I could call to one of the lions, one of the gorillas. There was a recognition; they knew my voice. And the little kids who'd go, 'I want to be a penguin' - you just hope to God these kids will get touched, and that they'll look at animals in a different way."

Nanette Taraya-Vonk was on her way to the zoo Wednesday with her children when she heard about the attack and headed for the Oakland Zoo instead.

She summed up the feeling of many patrons when she told The Chronicle: "I know they're going to get a lot of bad publicity after this, but I hope people still go to the zoo. You could cross the street and get hurt. Kids love the zoo."

There's something about the zoo that is magical. It's why many employees who have left want to remain anonymous when they speak out. Some hope to return one day - but under a different administration.

Employees characterize the current regime as arrogant, autocratic and dismissive of those with experience and institutional knowledge.

Keepers, who know the animals and their habitats inside and out, say they have little input and are not listened to by Mollinedo and Bob Jenkins, the zoo's director of animal care and conservation. Workers of every variety fear they're being spied upon and will not speak publicly, afraid of reprisals. Even before the Christmas rampage, information was tightly controlled.

For example, a complex lease and management agreement with San Francisco and the Zoological Society determines how the zoo operates. The city owns the animals and the zoo, while the private nonprofit operates and manages everything.

Although the public is entitled to see most information, media requests for routine data have been deemed "confidential" - requiring calls to the city attorney's office and public records requests to pry loose.

One ex-employee said worn-down zoo workers would sometimes say: "It won't change until somebody dies."

On Dec. 22 of last year, 300-pound Tatiana severely injured keeper Lori Komejan inside the Lion House, "degloving" her arm, as the state's workplace safety report put it. That agency, Cal/OSHA blamed the zoo, citing defects that the zoo knew about but hadn't fixed, and imposed an $18,000 penalty.

Although tiger experts agree that there was no reason to euthanize Tatiana, Mollinedo described the 4-year-old tiger - a day after her death - as having been "at the top of her game." A former management person at the zoo said, "Here you've got a young cat that's testing her environment - very agile, very strong. A cautious zoo manager would call other zoos and say, 'How big is your moat?' ... This is like having Hannibal Lecter. There's a reason they put that mask on him."

The zoo had reinforced Tatiana's indoor cage after Komejan was mauled - but the fatal attack Christmas afternoon took place in her outdoor quarters.

"That place is a whirling dervish," said a onetime keeper. "And it's ready to spin out of control."

Maybe it already has. The zoo, now grappling with a lawsuit by Komejan, could be sued by the victims' families, lose its accreditation, incur heavy fines or even face criminal charges. City officials are calling for hearings and possible changes in how the zoo is operated.

And it's not at all clear what might have provoked the attack.

"Animals being taunted was always an issue," an ex-employee said. "But you should be able to walk down there slathered in raw meat and not have them get out."

[Echosoftom 3]

Seems very obvious to me that if they want to keep this zoo up and running one of the first things is that, Mr. Mollinedo would have to go!

I can't believe that the people who make decisions for this zoo would even want to keep this asshole around. What a big mess! Let the lawsuits begin.

[agirl 0]

Why did they hire someone that had issues at the LA zoo. :confused:

[KansasPettyFan 1]

^ All about money I suppose. He was doing 'a great job' because he had big events and attendance was up. What for if the animals or employees are not treated right? But then again, money talks. I can't say I agree with the whole zoo concept anyway. I feel bad for the animals.

[Nel 71]

Jesus Christ. Too many times the WRONG people are placed in positions of authority.

[wild1forever 152]

Sheep are molested by a human intruder.

EWWW! :eek:

Since the tiger story broke, my constant impression has been that Mollinedo is an incompetent jerk. I certainly hope that he does get fired over this.

[emmie 2]

Sheep are molested by a human intruder

Hmm wasn't from Atlanta, Georgia was he? LOL

[EpiphanyDH 0]

That article was very very upsetting. What a disgrace. In the year 2007 this is the best a leading zoo can do? Sickening.

The director Mr. Mollinedo is an incompetent neanderthal. He should have been removed a long time ago. Should never have been hired in the first place. Where are all the animal rights activists???

And the people there in California just stand for this abuse. As long as they can see the pretty animals it's business as usual. It's the people who are the sheep.

I hope they sue that place out of existence if they can't get their act together. The place should be boycotted. :013:

[surfnburn 5]

Sheep are molested by a human intruder.

EWWW! :eek:

Sheepherders used to be lonely... How can you be that lonely in San Francisco????

Oh this is so sad... I first went to the SF zoo when I was a kid. It was very antiquated back then. Over the years they have created some great habitats. I love the ape environment. I have to say, though. The Oakland Zoo has made so many habitat improvements that it outshines the San Francisco zoo...

It sounds like the health and wellbeing of a lot of animals are at risk. I hope they get some competent management in that place.