The San Francisco Zoological Society is proud to announce the birth of a female Queensland, koala (joey). This is the first koala birth at the Zoo since 2000 and the new joey began to emerge from her pouch in January. She will make her first public debut Thursday, March 10, 2011. 

Saturday, October 2, 2010

8 p.m.-midnight
6 p.m. VIP Champagne Reception

Enjoy delectable bites, delicious cocktails and dancing. San Francisco’s favorite DJ Solomon is sure to get things elevated on the dance floor during an exclusive evening at the San Francisco Zoo!

For added convenience we have just added transportation options. Enjoy the party! Feel free to indulge at our all inclusive soiree on October 2nd!

VIP Ticket holders will enjoy complimentary roundtrip transportation. A voucher will be emailed to the address you submitted for event registration.

General Admission Ticket holders have the option to purchase a roundtrip voucher for $15; one way for $10. Please pay upon boarding charter at the Balboa Cafe or SF Zoo.

Schedule (subject to change)
Leave Balboa Cafe:
5:30, 6:30, 7:30, 8:30, 9:30

Leave SF Zoo
10:00, 11:00, 12:00

Click here to buy now.

For more info or sponsorship inquiries email: furball@sfzoo2.org

Gala Chairmen Evan Corley, Elizabeth Matzner, and Amanda Sargisson invite you to the Launch Party for Zoo II’s Signature Event, Fur Ball!

Co-Hosted with Guardsmen 4th Fridays!

* SAVE THE DATE: Fur Ball is Saturday, October 2, 2010 *

Purchase your Gala tickets for complimentary admission!
($10 recommended donation for non-ticket holders).

** SVEDKA Vodka is generously providing all guests a complimentary first cocktail **

Click here to buy your Fur Ball tickets

It seems like every RTZ starts off the same way … cold, foggy, early and with a headache. (I will let you guess why I included that last one as it does follow Friday nights). After hitting the snooze button for the fourth time and having Bob, a Zoo II Chair and my ride, calls for the third time, I figured it was as good of a moment as ever to get moving. Once we got our energy fix with breakfast sandwiches from the Beach Café, we are ready to go to the Zoo. We check-in, noticing that we are the only ones to arrive from Zoo II, slap a name tag on and try to blend in with the all high school students (side note – if you know me, you would quickly realize it is quite difficult for me to blend in anywhere being 6’6” and 300+lbs). Now you may ask Harry, why are you trying to hide? Well, the way every RTZ starts is with a very intense stretch and when I mean stretch, I mean a jazzercise/cheerleading routine. Bob always has his camera. This is actually one of my favorite parts of the morning as it loosens everyone up both physically and mentally, but the last thing I need is documentation of me with my spirit fingers!

We make our way to the project site with a medium size group and stop at a corner filled with large bushes; ok well they were more like small trees. On this corner they wanted us to uproot everything – yes everything – and replace it with new small trees, flowers, and a 1,000 lb. statue of a lioness and her cub. Really… IN TWO HOURS! We were up to the challenge and our great group got to work. Let’s just say that I used to dead lift small cars, but was not prepared for the strength of Mother Nature and her roots. I along with six other strapping men (Bob watched!!!!) was finally able to get the Tree of Life (Lion King Reference) out after about an hour of digging. Now on a positive note, we had to dig up every plant as the Zoo reuses everything, as it is a green facility. This eased the pain of the sore back. Thankfully, we had a forklift that could move the statue into place, and with Bob’s amazing management skills (just kidding… he did help do a lot of heavy lifting); we were finished in just over two hours, a feat only possible because everyone chipped in and helped in more ways than one.

Have you experienced that feeling when you finally finish something and you have that great sense of pride because you help turn something ugly into something beautiful? Well that is how I felt, mixed with some pain from the blisters on my hands because I am quite stubborn and didn’t use the gloves offered to me. It was well worth it and the best part is that afterward you can walk around and enjoy the Zoo for free! As you know, the mornings always start off a little rough, well it wasn’t until the car ride home that I realized my I love going to RTZ so much. No matter how bad I feel when I start, I always feel exponentially better when I finish and am ready to take on the rest of my afternoon.

BAMMMMM!!!!!!!

That is the sound of Bob and I getting in to a car accident on the ride home, yes the same ride where I had this great revelation. But thankfully no one was hurt and being the efficient men that we are, we were back home ready for a drink only an hour later. Overall, an amazing Saturday with amazing people. I hope that you can join us this Saturday, August 14.

Please meet at 8 a.m. at the old “Main Gate” on Sloat at 45th Avenue, so we can sign-in and warm up with the rest of the RTZ participants.

What can we bring? Just yourselves (friends too), If you have your own pair of work gloves, you may want to bring them; please make sure to dress down and in layers because of weather.

Please R.S.V.P. for this event on our Facebook page if you can attend as the Zoo requires pre-registration. If you must make a game time decision just let event organizers know you are with Zoo II when you arrive.

After the Renew the Zoo (approximately 11 a.m.) we’ll head on over to the Park Chalet and reward ourselves with brunch and morning cocktails.

Show thanks during national zookeeper week, receive discount | San Francisco Examiner.