San Francisco's season of nonprofit upheavals continues as the longtime head of the San Francisco Zoo announces her plan to retire next month. The announcement comes a month after a report of dysfunction on the zoo's board, and an attempted coup by board members.

Tanya Peterson, the longtime executive director and CEO of the SF Zoological Society, which manages the city-owned San Francisco Zoo, has announced plans to retire in August, as the SF Standard was first to report. Peterson put out a statement late Tuesday afternoon through PR rep Sam Singer, saying, "Leading this zoo has been one of the great honors of my life," and "I have been committed to leading the SF Zoo through some of its most transformative and, unfortunately, some of its most challenging moments."

The Zoological Society board added its own statement, thanking Peterson for her "extraordinary contributions, leadership, and unwavering dedication." And, the board said, "During her tenure, she greatly expanded the zoo’s wildlife conservation efforts and enhanced visitors’ access to endangered, exotic, and rescued animals — fostering an environment of exploration and education for guests from near and far."

Peterson has led the zoo since 2008, and was earning a $339,500 annual salary as of 2022.

The writing was pretty clearly on the wall early last month that a shakeup was likely at the zoo's board, following the abrupt resignations of several board members who had reportedly attempted to oust Peterson, only to be outvoted.

This attempted coup came after months of reported back-and-forth with the city's budget analyst's office, which had been requesting a series of documents from the zoo in order to conduct a thorough financial audit. Not receiving these documents, Supervisor Myrna Melgar threatened to freeze the $4 million in annual funding that the city provides to the zoo, decrying the "dysfunction" on the board.

Mayor Daniel Lurie followed that with a direct call for Peterson to resign last week.

Lurie put out a statement following Peterson's announcement, per the Chronicle, saying, "Under new, stable leadership, the San Francisco Zoo has the opportunity to reach new heights. I want to thank Tanya Peterson for her service to the zoo and our city. I look forward to working with the board and the new leadership to improve our zoo and fulfill the rare and exciting opportunity to bring pandas to our city."

Allegations of mismanagement have dogged the zoo for over a year, following an investigative report by the Chronicle that found multiple safety concerns for zookeepers, and animal welfare concerns — and it unearthed an accusation of nepotism against Peterson, including the hiring of her daughter as a paid intern, and paying her fiance, Gregory Dayton, to perform concerts at the zoo.

Unionized workers at the zoo cast a 97% vote of no confidence in Peterson in April 2024. The SF Zoological Society then announced an internal investigation last May, which concluded in September with the board expressing its full "continued confidence" in Peterson's leadership.

That confidence had clearly frayed for at least a few board members by this past spring, with a vote taken to remove Peterson, which failed, leading to those members resigning. The Rec & Park Commission's zoo advisory committee's co-chair Larry Mazzola Jr. called the situation "a complete embarrassment" last month in comments to the Chronicle, adding, "It’s apparent that the SF Zoological Society is inept."

The City Attorney's Office became involved, claiming that it was still missing 25 documents it and the budget analyst's office had requested from the zoo. Dan Goncher, principal at the budget analyst’s office, told the Chronicle that Peterson had "outright refused" to participate in the city's audit during a meeting in January.

Singer put out a statement in response saying, "The zoo believes it’s in compliance or substantial compliance, and if for some reason there are documents the city still requires, the zoo will gladly provide them."

Melgar, meanwhile, said things like, "I’ve tried to help the zoo, and I have been treated with nothing but disrespect."

The Zoological Society will now undertake a process to select a new CEO, and it sounds like their city funding is safe, for now.

The SF Zoo is, as far as we know, still trying to broker a deal with the Chinese government to bring two giant pandas to the city next year. Melgar had earlier implied that some board members at the Zoological Society believed that Peterson's relationships with Chinese officials were essential to cutting such a deal.

The shakeup at the zoo's board follows on the heels of the complete implosion of the nonprofit SF Parks Alliance amid what some have called gross financial mismanagement.

Related: SF’s 10 Wildest Nonprofit Spending Scandals of the Last Five Years, Ranked

Photo by David Yao