Eight months after China agreed to loan the city a pair of giant pandas, the San Francisco Zoo is showing off designs for a habitat — which will cost much less than initially expected.
Instead of building a new panda zone, the zoo plans to remodel a habitat used for lions. The project will cost approximately $8 million, not including the rental fee for the pandas, believed to be around $1 million per year for each animal. Their food — bamboo — plus other panda care and habitat maintenance will also cost millions annually.
“Fortunately, with the choice of a remodeled exhibit, the price point is more reasonable and more cost-effective,” San Francisco Zoo CEO Tanya Peterson told The Standard.
The zoo had previously estimated the price of a newly built habitat at more than $20 million.
The lion habitat, an open-air, forest-like area at the center of the zoo, was briefly home to visiting pandas four decades ago. The area will be transformed with additional bamboo plantings and visitor walkways. Inside the habitat, major renovations include landfilling and grass planting. However, the existing infrastructure is largely “panda-ready,” Peterson said.
The zoo plans to submit a construction application to the city’s Planning Commission. The design and architecture team is led by former planning commissioner Frank Fung.
When will the pandas arrive?
The timeline of the remodel remains uncertain, given San Francisco’s bureaucratic approvals process.
Peterson said the zoo and China initially targeted the end of 2025 for the arrival of the pandas, but the timeline is uncertain because of fundraising challenges and changes in City Hall leadership. She said the zoo will need to work with Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie, who unseated Mayor London Breed, to find places to grow bamboo in the city.
Lurie publicly supported the arrival of the pandas during his campaign, expressing excitement about bringing his children to see them. The Standard has learned that Lurie has met with local Chinese diplomats.
Funding for care of the animals will come from private donations. Breed set a $25 million fundraising goal. Peterson declined to share details or disclose fundraising figures.
The San Francisco Zoo hosted two pandas in 1984 for three months. The brief stay triggered “panda-mania,” bringing a record 409,000 visitors to the zoo. Peterson anticipates that the new pair will double annual zoo attendance to approximately 1.2 million visitors.
San Francisco leaders have pursued pandas since the late Mayor Ed Lee’s tenure from 2011 to 2017. During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in 2023, Breed revived the effort and finalized the deal in April during a trip to China.
The zoo has faced controversy over safety concerns for animals and staff. The Board of Supervisors recently called for an audit of the zoo’s finances and performance after a report from the Animal Control and Welfare Commission described the facility as outdated and “unsafe for visitors and animals.”
However, Beijing appears to have confidence that the facility will be able to care for the pandas. Peterson said Chinese officials are working closely with zoo staffers and encouraging them to receive training in China.
“They have looked at our zoo extensively,” Peterson said. “We think this will be a win-win for everybody, including the animals.”