A zoo changes its stripes

Like dozens of other city-operated zoos that suffered as funds went to higher priorities, the San Francisco Zoo is being reborn, as private sponsors, the public, and the cities work together to chart a new mission for zoos and create humane environments for the animals. At director David Anderson's urging, San Francisco in 1993 joined the growing list - 1/3 of the US' 161 certified zoos and aquariums - to turn over management to local nonprofit zoological societies. Once the city bureaucracy stepped aside, the Zoological Society made huge strides in attracting the attention and resources of the private sector and wealthy individuals. Freed from bureaucratic stuffiness, zoo officials have been having fun devising such fund-raising gimmicks as auctioning off the right to name animals.