SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Three former zoo directors, in town for a conference, called the San Francisco Zoo outdated and suggested converting it to an animal rescue center.
Peter Stroud, former curator at the Melbourne Zoo and director of the Werribee Open Range Zoo, along with Les Schobert, former general curator at the Los Angeles and North Carolina zoos, and Robert Atkinson, former curator of the Woburn Safari Park in Britain, spoke Friday at a news conference called by Defense of Animals, the organization that invited them to critique the San Francisco Zoo, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The three were in San Francisco for a conference on elephants.
"There is a lack of animal-mindedness at the zoo," Stroud said, describing the facilities as "out-dated."
Suzanne Roy of In Defense of Animals called the fatal tiger attack on Christmas Day a "wake-up call" about conditions at the zoo.
Lora LaMarca, a zoo spokeswoman, said the zoo relies on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which sent a team this week to examine the big-cat grotto.
