Wishbone the Andean Bear (I believe) is the only Animal living at the San Francisco Zoo who is exclusively on concrete. This is cruel.
It is not my intent for Wishbone to be be removed from the home he has lived in for most of his life, it is my intent to bring attention to his living situation and call for changes to be made in the simplest of form, bringing a small grass surface into his home. This is not an impossible task, nor is it costly.
Out of five Bear enclosures only two have grass. Prior to the past three years (that Wishbone has not been on any grass) he had access to one of the two that does. I do not have the statistics on how often he was rotated there, but point is he has not felt grass under him in at least 1000 days.
In my opinion it is unexceptionable, not to mention unnatural, for any animal to be living exclusively on concrete. There are ways to bring at the very least a small patch of grass to his home. I've made suggestions and/or provided photos, submitted to the San Francisco Zoo Director, over a year ago and to San Francisco Zoo VIPs in recent months, with no response. Additionally the Zoo is moving ahead with plans to build new areas and bring in new animals while the ones that already live there and have for decades, continue to live in outdated, un-landscaped and unnatural settings.
I know for a fact that a Keeper tried with Management resistance to get the Andean Bears access to the Grizzly Gulch Meadow. That didn't happen in Wishbone's companion's lifetime. Let's make sure it happens in Wishbone's!
You can read more details on a blog I have started www.projectgetwishbonegrass.blogspot.com
You can additionally email the San Francisco Zoo Director Tanya Peterson at tanyap@sfzoo.org
Thank you!
