Zoos and Aquariums

Animal Intelligence

Banana-Sam: Cops Asking Questions After Zoo Claimed "No Questions Asked"

​The San Francisco Zoo may have made a monkey out of the man who graciously returned Banana-Sam, the celebrity critter who was brazenly snatched from the zoo on Friday. Just a few hours after the squirrel monkey was discovered missing last week, SF Weekly talked to Tanya Peterson, the executive di ... More >>

Baby Bison Dies After Leashless Dog Enters Paddock in Golden Gate Park

​It's been a dramatic week for the San Francisco Zoo, which has been coping with the mysterious disappearance -- and even more curious return --of a stolen monkey. Now, they are grappling with the death of a 6-month-old bison, which died last night after a small pup made its way into the bison pad ... More >>

Banana-Sam's Brethren: Other Memorable Human-Zoo Creature Interactions

​The disappearance -- and all-too-convenient return -- of purloined San Francisco Zoo squirrel monkey Banana-Sam turned the eyes of the world toward San Francisco and its simian population. It seems the 2-pound monkey is unharmed after an unscheduled captivity amid his regular captivity. All's wel ... More >>

Banana-Sam, Stolen Monkey, Communicates to his Fans via Twitter

He's back!​Banana-Sam, the squirrel money that was snatched from the San Francisco zoo last week, is getting a fresh start in 2012. The 2-pound primate was found roaming Golden Gate Park over the weekend, and is now resting at his more secure home at the zoo. The 17-year-old monkey is currently no ... More >>

Banana-Sam, Adorable Squirrel Monkey, Stolen from S.F. Zoo

Did we mention he's on a special diet?​The San Francisco Zoo is scrambling to track down the person or people who brazenly stole an adult squirrel monkey from the zoo overnight. According to Tanya Peterson, executive director of the zoo, the monkey thieves cut through the outside gate of the zoo, ... More >>

Nudists Create Naked Parking Space in Front of Castro Theatre

Parking your rear end​We told you about today's PARK(ing) Day, the city's whimsical attempt to redesign metered parking spaces into improvised urban space. SF Weekly went to check it out, and aside from the outdoor Mad Men offices, we saw petting zoos and makeshift parks taking over our beloved pa ... More >>

Russell Brand and Kristen Wiig Are Sexy, Spam Is Evil, and S.F.'s Best Vegan Junk Food

​This news is from last week but I was in Greece and Russia (WHAT'S UP I HAVE A PASSPORT) so I'm gonna talk about it anyway, okay? Okay! Also, I've got mad jet lag, a nasty cold, and a really bad attitude. Things could get extra real today and I apologize in advance/YOU'RE WELCOME. • So! SFood ... More >>

Martha, the New Tiger in Town

Martha reportedly eats chickens and rabbits, not nachos ​Nearly four years after Tatiana the tiger was shot to death when she leaped from her cage at the San Francisco Zoo and went on a bloody rampage, mauling Carlos Sousa Jr. to death, the zoo has brought in a new big feline for onlookers to admi ... More >>

New Russian-American Poetry? Yes Please

Martha reportedly eats chickens and rabbits, not nachos ​Nearly four years after Tatiana the tiger was shot to death when she leaped from her cage at the San Francisco Zoo and went on a bloody rampage, mauling Carlos Sousa Jr. to death, the zoo has brought in a new big feline for onlookers to admi ... More >>

Has a Deadly Anteater Come to San Francisco?

Ahhhhhhh!​Not exactly -- at least not yet. But who's to say the adorable baby anteater who just came into this world at the San Francisco Zoo won't one day be a match for the likes of Godzilla and Mothra?Bear with us, folks. This isn't just scare journalism. As we all know too well, the beasts of ... More >>

Nachos, Tigers, and Death: The Examiner's Bizarre, Tasteless Thanksgiving 'Treat'

Nachos? Seriously?​Following an utterly bizarre cover "exclusive" in the Thanksgiving edition of the Examiner exhuming the sordid tale of Tatiana the tiger's 2007 rampage through the San Francisco Zoo, we still have no idea why the beast leaped from its enclosure, mauled Carlos Sousa, Jr. to death ... More >>

Gas Mask Removed from Cow at Aquarium's Controversial Global Warming Exhibit

Humans in gas masks just aren't the same​A cow in a gas mask is a memorable image. That's probably why it was deployed, to great effect, in a recent exhibit on climate change at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While this is the sort of thing that would doubtless please André Breton, dairy farmers -- n ... More >>

Cockatiels Inundate San Francisco Animal Control

'I just flew in from the coast...'​A flock of cockatiels wasn't a band in the 1980s. There was no signature "flock of cockatiels" haircut. A flock of cockatiels is, literally, a flock of cockatiels -- and you can find one now at San Francisco's Animal Care and Control. The repository of pets-to-be ... More >>

Remembering Farrell's, the Ice Cream Parlors That Gave Us the Zoo

Farrell's​We miss the dearly departed Farrell's, an ice cream parlor which boasted of 130 locations in the '70s and '80s. We don't pine for the turn of the last century costumes (though that facial hair in the pic above is definitely cool again) or the pomp and circumstance of songs, bells, wh ... More >>

"Ask My Permission Before You Quote Me, Kenneth!

Farrell's​We miss the dearly departed Farrell's, an ice cream parlor which boasted of 130 locations in the '70s and '80s. We don't pine for the turn of the last century costumes (though that facial hair in the pic above is definitely cool again) or the pomp and circumstance of songs, bells, wh ... More >>

Knocked-Up Oakland Zoo Antelope Delivers Adorable Baby

Welcome to Oakland, kid! ​When the Oakland Zoo last year obtained Etana the eland, a large African antelope, it turned out they were getting a two-for-one bargain deal. Since all the zoo's elands are female -- and since the zoo today announced Etana on April 21 delivered a beautiful little baby el ... More >>

Woo Woo

Welcome to Oakland, kid! ​When the Oakland Zoo last year obtained Etana the eland, a large African antelope, it turned out they were getting a two-for-one bargain deal. Since all the zoo's elands are female -- and since the zoo today announced Etana on April 21 delivered a beautiful little baby el ... More >>

It's an Orgy of Harvest Stuff All Weekend at Ferry Plaza, Starting with Today's Booze Bash

Uncle Lynx/Flickr​This afternoon kicks off a weekend of harvest-related activities at the Ferry Building. Free events include an olive oil tasting, apple pressing and cider making, a Barnyard by the Bay petting zoo, and live music. Till 8 p.m. today, an organic spirits (boo!), wine, and beer t ... More >>

Exotic Erotic Expo

Uncle Lynx/Flickr​This afternoon kicks off a weekend of harvest-related activities at the Ferry Building. Free events include an olive oil tasting, apple pressing and cider making, a Barnyard by the Bay petting zoo, and live music. Till 8 p.m. today, an organic spirits (boo!), wine, and beer t ... More >>

Reeling Drunk With Apparent Ability to Alter Time and Space Arrested at S.F. Zoo For Harassing Kids, Animals

If you're going to be instantaneously transported from Hippie Hill to the zoo, it isn't happening without this guy's helpA man with a fondness for large amounts of cheap alcohol and an apparent ability to teleport across the city was arrested Wednesday evening for bothering children and animals at t ... More >>

S.F. Zoo Maitenance Worker's Ghastly Tell-All Doesn't Say Much

Following the 2007 tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo, a former zoo maintenance worker, Lloyd Kraal, briefly garnered a place in the spotlight when he claimed that zoo officials ignored his previous warnings that the tigers would escape from their enclosure. He also claimed that his superior, Gog ... More >>

Lost In the Zoo -- With Hordes and Hordes of Kiddies

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

The Zoo complex supports music synergy in Oakland

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

Good Boy!

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

This Weekend: Harvest Festival

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

SF Gov InAction: The Supes are Back. Do We Need Them?

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

Walk Right In

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

Tiger attack claims life of public hearing

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

Tiger Beat: Clever Letter Contrasting Lethal Zoo Cat, 9x Muni Bus Brightens Everyone's Day

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

The Slingshot Heard Round The Bay, Or Maybe Not

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

San Francisco Zoo Tiger Attacks, Kills Slow News Day -- 12.26

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

Best Sex Tour Hostess

Children to right of them, children to left of them, children in front of them... As you can see in the above photograph, one, two, three -- FOUR -- school buses pulled up simultaneously this morning at the San Francisco Zoo, depositing their youthful, hyperenergetic, Miley Cyrus-adoring cargo onto ... More >>

"The Pinter/Albee Duet"

Each playwright packs plenty of fierce eloquence into a single devastating act

Best Place to Feed Ducks

Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon

Round One!

Get KO'd at the Cow Palace

Salam Shalom ... A Tale of Passion

A simple love story would have been protest enough

Deep in the Wine Country Bush

At Safari West, you get oryxes with your chardonnay

Five Flights

A new comedy in five parts from Adam Bock is alternately brilliant and thin

Out of Santa Rosa

The Safari West wildlife reserve is like a bit of Africa in the Bay Area

Best Unlikely Vista

Miniature Train Ride, Oakland Zoo

Best Children's Museum

Randall Museum

Stage

Randall Museum

Night Crawler

Randall Museum

Savage Love

Randall Museum

Dog Bites

Randall Museum

Night Crawler

Randall Museum

Who's Watching the Zoo?

As the $48 million June ballot measure looms, so do questions about the financial assumptions behind it

Tusk Love

An elephant's birth raises questions about breeding practices

Slap Shots

An elephant's birth raises questions about breeding practices