SAN FRANCISCO (May 2, 2026) — In Defense of Animals is calling for urgent reforms following the quiet Friday night release of a long-awaited city audit of the San Francisco Zoo. The 248-page Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) Performance and Management Audit of the San Francisco Zoo is a devastating validation of whistleblower warnings exposing at least $12 million in unapproved spending (p. 47). 

It reveals a financially broken institution plagued by significant, ongoing failures in governance, financial mismanagement, crumbling infrastructure, a “toxic” workplace culture, and oversight failures that raise serious concerns about the zoo’s ability to protect the safety of staff, the public, and the animals in its care.

Despite San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar attempting to spin the report to the San Francisco Chronicle by claiming the zoo is “in good shape” and “the animals are okay,” the audit text released late Friday shows the exact opposite.

“The City can't sweep this audit under the rug,” said Michael Angelo Torres, who oversees Bay Area Campaigns for In Defense of Animals. “The audit explicitly warns that this institution continues to neglect the management of its finances, the maintenance of its facilities, and provision of effective oversight, putting the animals, staff and public at risk.”

A coalition comprising In Defense of Animals, SF Zoo Watch, and Panda Voices is demanding the Board of Supervisors immediately halt all taxpayer bailouts, cancel the reckless $27.5 million plan to bring giant pandas to the facility, and transition the failing zoo into EcoPark SF.

The audit identifies a pattern of critical structural issues, including:

• Chronic financial instability, with ongoing structural deficits since at least FY 2018-19 (p. 12). The zoo is surviving only by draining reserves and presenting “unrealistically high” revenue projections to mask its crisis (p. 25). 
• Lack of strategic planning, including the absence of a strategic plan and master plan (p. 30). 
  An eyewatering vanity project, with the proposed panda exhibit costing at least $27.5 million over 10 years — excluding marketing costs or the expense of relocating the lions (p. 8). The city is preparing to hand a highly sensitive, astronomically expensive international vanity project to an operator that cannot even manage a $50,000 maintenance contract without violating city rules (p. 47)
• Deteriorating infrastructure, with insufficient maintenance systems. Auditors found the Zoo has no comprehensive facility condition assessments (p. 60) and explicitly warn that continued neglect and under-investment “could lead to increased safety risks for both animals and staff” (p. 60).
• Weak governance and oversight, including an outdated agreement with the City from 1993, which has no practical enforcement mechanisms (p. 58). The zoo delayed providing key documents and was not fully responsive during the audit, requiring escalation to the Board of Supervisors to resolve (p. 50). 
• Toxic workplace and safety concerns, including gaps in incident tracking and accountability, a lack of required AZA risk assessments for staff working with dangerous animals (p. 104), and a “widespread view among staff that SFZS has a toxic work environment,” citing exceptionally high numbers of staff who witnessed favoritism, discrimination, and retaliation (p. 115).

“City officials are eager to call this chapter closed, but let’s be clear: the same Zoological Society that mismanaged millions of dollars, ignored a toxic workplace for years, and operated in the dark for two decades is still running the San Francisco Zoo,” said Justin Barker, Founder of SF Zoo Watch. “Swapping out a CEO doesn’t transform an institution.” 

In April, The San Francisco Standard exposed Mayor Daniel Lurie and Supervisor Melgar’s plans to push through an $8.5 million taxpayer bailout for the financially incompetent operator.

“Handing over an $8.5 million bailout into a broken system is not a solution — it’s  enablement,” added Torres. “The City has surrendered a major public asset to a failing private operator. The time has finally come for San Francisco to start holding the Zoological Society accountable.”

On top of the San Francisco Zoological Society’s deep-rooted failings exposed by the audit, the city has been made aware of a New York Times investigation that suggests the $11 million “conservation” fee paid by San Francisco taxpayers to China will likely be misused for infrastructure projects. A federal investigation into the CCP’s “Save the Panda” program is ongoing.

“It is sheer political malpractice that San Francisco politicians are pushing a multi-million-dollar panda project while the Chinese government is currently under federal investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources for misappropriating these exact conservation funds,” said Taciana Santiago Melo of Panda Voices. “The audit proves this zoo lacks the financial stability and basic infrastructure to responsibly care for highly sensitive giant pandas. This vanity project must be canceled.”

In response to the audit, the coalition of local and global organizations is calling on city officials to:

• Stop the bailouts. Freeze the proposed $8.5 million loan and all future blank checks to the Zoological Society.
• Halt animal intake. Commit to admitting no new animals, including giant pandas, until meaningful reforms have been implemented and sustained.
• Build back better. Reimagine the zoo as a wildlife sanctuary, rescue and rehabilitation center, or conservation-focused eco park that provides valuable services for residents instead of generating taxpayer waste.

Members of the public are encouraged to take action. To date, more than 28,000 In Defense of Animals supporters have written to urge city officials to cancel the zoo’s panda plans, and over 13,000 have urged Mayor Lurie to transition the zoo into EcoPark SF.

### NOTES ###

AUDIT HIGHLIGHTS

A Financial Black Hole

• "The San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) has operated with a structural deficit in its general unrestricted operating fund since at least FY 2018-19 and does not have a healthy or stable financial condition." (Pages i, 12)
• "Low and decreasing operating revenues have been insufficient to support increases in operating expenses, which has required SFZS to use one-time non-operating revenues such as estate bequests, COVID-19 relief funds, and investment draws to cover operating expenses." (Pages i, 12)
• "Recent operating budgets presented publicly by SFZS have assumed unrealistically high revenues based on attendance figures that are not supported by recent trends and have not transparently communicated the state of SFZS's financial condition or its structural deficit." (Pages i, 12)

The Panda Boondoggle

• "According to an internal cost estimate prepared by SFZS management, SFZS anticipates the total cost for the panda exhibit will be approximately $27.5 million (not adjusted for inflation) over the 10-year loan period." (Page 8)
• "SFZS's estimate does not include costs associated with panda marketing or merchandising, although it is likely that the panda exhibit would be featured in SFZS's merchandising and marketing materials. SFZS's estimate also does not include costs to relocate the lions to another zoo..." (Page 8)

Dangerous, Crumbling Infrastructure

• "The San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) lacks comprehensive written capital and maintenance plans and facility condition assessments for the development, improvement, and upkeep of San Francisco Zoo and Gardens (Zoo) facilities and grounds." (Pages v, 60)
• "The lack of such plans and guidelines, coupled with the age of Zoo facilities and under-investment in repairs and maintenance, has contributed to a less-than-ideal state in the Zoo's appearance and aesthetics, particularly in the older, eastern sections of the Zoo." (Page vi)
• "Continued neglect will compound deterioration of Zoo facilities and could lead to increased safety risks for both animals and staff." (Pages vi, 79)

A "Toxic" Workplace and Safety Failures

• "In interviews, focus groups, and an employee survey, San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) staff expressed widespread significant dissatisfaction with the communication and transparency under the previous SFZS leadership, and high numbers of staff reported experiencing and witnessing favoritism, retaliation, and/or discrimination." (Pages xi, 115)
• "The perceived retaliation, favoritism, and lack of communication and transparency all contributed to a widespread view among staff that SFZS has a toxic work environment." (Pages xi, 115)
• "In January 2022, the Visiting Committee of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) recommended that SFZS develop a written risk assessment for working and sharing space with dangerous animals, but SFZS was unable to provide documentation to our audit team demonstrating that it developed the recommended risk assessments." (Pages x, 104)

Obstruction, Cover-Ups, and Broken Oversight

"The 1993 Lease and Management Agreement between the City and the San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) has become outdated and ineffective, resulting in unclear expectations, weak financial provisions, and no practical enforcement mechanisms." (Pages iv, 42, 58)

"Between FY 2019-20 and FY 2024-25, the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force determined that SFZS violated its obligation to respond to public records requests in a timely manner in two separate instances." (Page 49, Appendix B-10)

"In addition, SFZS repeatedly failed to provide complete and accurate information to our audit team during the first several months of our fieldwork. This noncooperation violated the Lease and Management Agreement's stipulations about records access and required escalation to the Board of Supervisors to resolve." (Page 50)

“The San Francisco Zoological Society (SFZS) does not have a current strategic plan, a current campus master plan.” (Page 30)

PUBLIC ACTION ALERTS

Urgent: Pandas Must Not Go to Crumbling San Francisco Zoo: https://www.idausa.org/sfpanda
Transform the Crumbling San Francisco Zoo Into a Rescue Center!: https://idausa.org/ecoparksf

CONTACTS & INTERVIEWS

In Defense of Animals, Michael Angelo Torres, michaelangelo@idausa.org, 415-425-2847
SF Zoo Watch, Justin Barker, justinmbarker@gmail.com, 916-838-3330

ABOUT 

In Defense of Animals is an international animal rescue and protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a history of defending animals, the environment, and their guardians through education and campaigns, as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, rural Mississippi, and California since 1983. idausa.org

SF Zoo Watch is committed to exposing negligence and mismanagement at the San Francisco Zoo. We fight for the safety and ethical treatment of animals and workers, pushing for transparency and accountability. Join us in demanding a safer, more humane San Francisco Zoo. https://sfzoo.watch

Panda Voices is an organization created in early 2021 by an international group of panda fans from Asia, Europe & The Americas, brought together by concerns over pandas YaYa & LeLe, which began years before. The organization is committed to giving a voice to the voiceless and promoting the humane treatment of animals in captivity through advocacy and services. pandavoices.org