San Francisco Panda Media Round up
News of Pandas widely covered, many outlets failing to cover zoo welfare and safety issues.
National media outlets have extensively covered the announcement of San Francisco Zoo’s attempt at renting pandas from China. Outlets include CNN, NPR, USA Today however only the New York Times covered the San Francisco Chronicle findings in a damning exposé on the state of affairs at the zoo saying:
“The announcement came as the San Francisco Zoo faces another round of scrutiny over its operations. Last week, while Ms. Breed was in China, The San Francisco Chronicle published an investigation into the zoo, describing how some employees said they were concerned about animal welfare and worker safety at the 95-year-old institution.
The zoo has faced years of turmoil. In 2000, teenagers, wanting to impress their girlfriends with unusual Christmas presents, stole two koalas before police recovered them. On Christmas in 2007, a Siberian tiger escaped from her enclosure and killed a 17-year-old boy and injured two of his friends who had been taunting her. In 2014, a baby gorilla was crushed by an enclosure door and killed. A ring-tailed lemur was kidnapped from the zoo in 2020”