Zoo CEO branded 'as bad as Joe Exotic' booted after secret plot to import pandas from China outraged staff
Tanya Peterson has announced she will step down from her job as the CEO of the San Francisco Zoo after several scandals and a campaign to oust her from the top spot.
'Leading this zoo has been one of the great honors of my life,' she said in a statement, according to The San Francisco Standard.
'I have been committed to leading the SF Zoo through some of its most transformative and, unfortunately, some of its most challenging moments.'
Peterson has been leading the zoo since 2008 and has weathered several controversies, including concerns over animal and worker safety.
She also lost 20 percent of her staff between 2019 and 2023, including nine managers who had between 10 and 50 years of experience, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Peterson got off to challenging start, stepping into the role fresh off the heels of a death at zoo after a 300-pound Siberian tiger got out of its exhibit on Christmas Day and killed a visitor and injured two others in 2007.
Since then, more animal shave also escaped their cages, endangering zookeepers, and some animals, like a baby gorilla and penguin, have died under Peterson's leadership.
Last month, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors is set to freeze the zoo's $4million in city funding until it turns in an audit for its finances, The Los Angeles Times reported.
The board approved the audit last year after the zoo received negative press about mismanagement and animal care and it wanted to see how the establishment was operating.
The the zoo's union, Teamsters 856, also issued a vote of no confidence in Peterson in October.
It was the second one she has received since 2014, when the first was issued due to half finished projects at the zoo.
Ahead of the vote, Peterson let slip about a secret meeting she was about to have with the Chinese Consulate about bringing pandas to San Francisco allegedly in an attempt to leverage her position.
Only two other zoos have pandas: San Diego and the Smithsonian in Washington DC.
Peterson allegedly told the Board of Supervisors that if she were to be let go, the zoo might not get the pandas.
When former Mayor London Breed announced it publicly in April, zookeepers had no idea and were worried the zoo didn't have what was needed to care for the pandas.
The pandas are projected to cost the establishment an estimated $25million to accommodate.
The pandas are expected to arrive at the coastal zoo by the end of 2026, and Peterson played a large role in helping Breed get the animals from China.
The zoo will have up safety measures before their arrival after a bear almost mauled a zookeeper in May 2022.
The zookeeper was working inside the enclosure and had thought he had locked Kiona up properly, but the door misfunctioned, allowing her to get out and unexpectedly approach him.
When he tried to escape, the bear followed him. He narrowly made it to safety.
In 2014, a baby gorilla was crushed by a door inside her enclosure. The animals were being moved to their nighttime area when Kabibe darted underneath the door as it was closing.
Experts said both instances could have been avoided if the zoo had enacted proper safety measures.
Peterson has also been under siege from lawmakers. Earlier this month, current Mayor Daniel Lurie pushed for her to leave her post.
And now that she's finally out, employees are overjoyed.
'I haven't seen this level of positivity and excitement ever,' Stephanie Carpenter, a reptile keeper, told The Los Angeles Times.
Travis Shields, a former carnivore curator, told The Times: 'I don't think [keepers] care who comes next. It can't be any worse unless Joe Exotic comes in - and he's still in prison.'
Now, the $25million panda project might be in peril, as Peterson's departure leaves it hanging in a gray area.
'They're holding their breath,' a former manager, who was not identified, told The Times.
The new CEO, who has not been appointed, will have to figure out how to raise the money - something Peterson was very good at, according to employees.
'She's a good fundraiser, I'll give her that,' an San Francisco Recreation and Park Commissioner Larry Mazzola Jr. told The Times.
Lurie and the board will appoint the new executive.
'I look forward to working with the board and the new leadership to improve our zoo,' he said in a statement. He also looks forward to bringing pandas to town.
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