Employee Information
Posted at 2:25 pm October 29, 2007 by Human ResourcesThe San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park is now open!
- Thank you everyone who has worked SO hard at readying the Wild Animal Park for its re-opening. Your efforts have been remarkable.
- As of now, we know of 14 employees who lost their homes in the fire. The Zoological Society of San Diego is doing all we can to ensure that these employees, as well as all evacuated employees, have a place to stay. We will also be working with these employees to offer some relief, via our Catastrophic Leave Fund. Please note that contributions to the Catastrophic Leave Fund are not tax deductible.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 8:41 am
So glad the Park seems to have come through okay. Once I knew my family was safe, this was my next concern. God bless you for understanding about people’s ability to make it to work and explicitly stating so. Take care, keep safe.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:46 am
Good Luck to all of you. The whole nation is praying for the safety of all your employees and of the animals. We pray that the fires will get under control soon and the clean-up will be able to begin.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:58 am
Prayers to all of you at the zoo. Keep up the good work and keep all the animals safe. I watch your cams all the time. I am in love with Panda’s and someday want to visit your zoo. Debra Shuman Pinellas Park, Florida.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:10 am
My brother and his partner work at the Zoo and have kept me informed. Great to be able to get an update on the Zoo as it is a great place to visit. Keep safe and good luck to you all.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:27 am
We had severe wildfires in Kamloops British Columbia, Canada (population 80,000) in 1994. There is nothing worse then seeing that smoke come over the hill towards the place you live. Our prayers are with you. May the employees and animals of the park keep safe, and the winds stop soon.
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:28 am
Our prayers our with you all right now. We just spent our honeymoon flying out to the park and zoo which is something we looked forward to for so long. We had an amazing experience. We hope all turns out well and we will keep all the employees and animals in our thoughts and prayers.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:25 am
Know that you are all in my prayers. I’m in Sacramento, and saw at least 30 National Guard vehicles on the freeway, heading down I-5 this morning to your area. Hopefully, the fires will be contained soon. Thank you for keeping all the animals safe. God be with all of you!
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 am
3 years ago on our anniversary we attended the park, probably one of the best places we have been. I am glad to see that you have not sustained great damage. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your families!
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Every year my children and I look forward to visiting your amazing park. Due to having 3 in college now we skip vacations, but would not think of skipping our yearly visit to Wild Animal Park. Earlier this year we had the horror of watching a fire in our area (Griffith Park). Please stay safe and thank you for your wonderful conservation efforts on behalf of the animals.
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:41 pm
My earnest prayers and thoughts toward everyone and all animals at the zoo and animal park. May the Lord keep you all safe and that none of you lost your home.
October 23rd, 2007 at 1:58 pm
We are praying for your safety up here in WA state too. I have very fond memories of the Wild Animal Park from my years growing up in the area!
October 23rd, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Please contact me if you need any help at all. I have some understanding of cheetahs as I have volunteered at the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Thanks so much for the valuable update.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:23 pm
My husband, two year old daughter and I were just at your park two weeks ago from Texas. We are stunned by the turn of events in such a short time. I just had to check out your website to see how the animals and your wonderful park are doing. My daughter is constantly telling me that we need to “go up high in the sky in the balloon” which was such an incredible experience for her. Stay safe!!!! We are praying for you in Texas.
October 23rd, 2007 at 5:53 pm
THE ZEBRA’S ARE MY FAVORITE ANIMAL, I HOPE THAT THEY ARE SAFE FROM THE FIRE. I AM VERY WORRIED ABOUT THEM.
THANK-YOU FOR TAKING GOOD CARE OF THEM AND THE OTHER ANIMALS.
ZANE (8 YEARS OLD)
Moderator’s note: Thank you for caring about animals, Zane. Our zebras and other animals are safe at this time.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:19 pm
I visited the park a few weeks ago and learned that the employees all live in the area. It is a big relief that the animals are safe and the facilities are intact, but I hope that the workers who care for these animals are
also safe and their own homes are intact. Good luck to all of you.
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:59 pm
We are watching from Massachusetts - have been to the zoo - courage and strength to you on your precious mission right now - the world is grateful for what your are doing -
October 24th, 2007 at 3:12 am
You guys are awesome! Your park is awesome! I’m glad to hear that you are all safe and that the animals are doing okay. I used to go to the park at least once a year while growing up in Southern California. It would of been a tremendous loss had the fire spread to you. Wish we could send some of our Seattle rain to you and the rest of SoCal. Thoughts and prayers are with all of you in this tough time.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:54 am
Thank you so much for all that you do for the animals at the Park and Zoo — and especially all that you’re doing right now. I’m concerned about the employees though — especially those who are ensuring the animals are safe while their own homes may have been directly affected by the fires. Please let us know if there is anything that can be done to help them. Thank you.
October 24th, 2007 at 10:51 am
I am so glad to hear that all the animals are safe and not injured. I want to thank all the staff at the park who continued to assist in feeding and helping the animals during this time; especially under these dangerous conditions. Thank you so much for the updates/pictures in the last few days posted on your website. I feel more relieved now knowing the animals and employees are safe…My prayers are with all you!!
October 24th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
My first thought when I heard about the fires was the safety of the animals at the Wiold Animal Park. I have been a zoo memeber for many years, but living in Northern Nevada don’t get to visit often. You have done a wonderful job of protecting the animals, with your irrigation and clearing practices. My best wishes go out to you all for a speedy recovery form this devastating fire.
October 24th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
I’m glad everyone’s getting paid. That’s a class organization! I hope the employees are in good health and spirits, their homes are standing and they don’t melt their boots on embers!
October 24th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Although I was hoping you’d be able to come through with no losses, I’m grateful that you did so much and that all of the other animals are fine. You protect the animals so well, and it’s great to know that you have such a solid plan in place. Homes can be rebuilt, but what you have is worth so much more! Thank you for working so hard!
October 25th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You for saving the animals and the park. My dad is writing this for me as I am only 4, but the park is my favorite place to visit. I would be sad if anything had happened to it or the animals. I would like to give everyone a hug for what they have done to save the park.
October 26th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I have never been to your park but, when I have a moment to think what my ideal vacation would be it is your Zoo. I have been thinking about you all week and I am so happy your ordeal is comming to an end. Thank you for keeping us up to date and the good work you do. Prayers from Bangor Maine
October 26th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
I just have to say i think its awesome that the zoo is helping its employees that were affected by this great loss. I live in Vegas and have nothing to do with the zoo but when i read that they plan on helping those 10 employees out, as well as any others that were affected, it truely shows me that there is still good in this world. truely awesome.
October 28th, 2007 at 10:16 am
I was at the park on Sunday, October 21st with my two sisters to celebrate my sister’s 60th birthday.
We could not believe the news when we got back to our hotel about the fires. We were so worried
about Pattie, Steve, Ivan and all the animals we saw there, and continued to monitor the news all the way to San Francisco. I am so glad things turned out as well as they did for everyone there. Our tour was wonderful. Pattie was such a delight and everyone there is truly concerned about the animals and their environment.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Is there any way we can make a contribution to help the employees who lost their homes?
October 29th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Hi, you all! Just checking in to read any new updates from you about your situation. Reread your statement and saw that you added a couple of new pics of WAP and the area surrounding it. All I can say is WOW!!! Was that ever a close call that you all had last week! The second pic really showed how close those fires came to the animal areas, and your decision of having a huge buffer zone around those animal areas was the smartest decision you had made. It really made the difference between minimal damage and large scale damage to the park. Plus, that buffer zone was the one area that saved the open area animals from being injured or killed in the fires. I also understand that you have some sort of irrigation process that keeps the animal areas pretty moist and fire resistant, and that was a life saver as well. I hope you will be able to rebuild those buildings that were lost from the fire, and that somebody will do a donation drive to replace the lights so that you can have your Festival of Lights up by Christmas. I wish that I could do something to help, but I’m in Florida and don’t have the finances to give right now. I will pray that those donations and money comes in so that you can do a lot more in your recovery of the park and making sure that it still remains the safest place for your open range animals. Again, I’m very glad that the park has reopened for everyone to come in and see the animals. I will also pray for all of the employees of both WAP and SDZ that lost their homes in the fires, that they will be able to get a good start in recovering from their losses, and start rebuilding their homes. Please give them all big hugs from me, ok?
Gonna go and get back on the pandacam to check in on Bai and baby girl!
Prayers to all of you,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
October 29th, 2007 at 10:39 pm
I am looking to help WAP employees that have been effected by the fire and have children around the age of two. We have used toys and books we are willing to donate to help keep the kids busy during this tough time. As small gesture, but all we can do right now. We are VERY frequent visitors, like once a week!
October 30th, 2007 at 9:58 am
Margaret, #29, what a great idea and very generous gesture. Too bad this Margaret lives so far away on the East coast, and can’t pitch in and help in person. I imagine that your frequent visits are needed now more than ever. It helps to lift staff member’s spirits to share their animals and environment with guests, and the income from visitors helps the WAP coffers pay for their losses and needed rebuilding. Plus the animals who thrive on guests must have missed their visitors. I remember reading about this when Katrina and Rita desimated the animal and sea parks in LA, MI, and AL. When you go, please tell all my animal and bird friends, as well as staff, that I am thankful they are OK, and hope that their lives will return to normal soon.