Shade trees for gorillas? Worth $500,000 to one U.S. city
Topline: The City of San Antonio will spend $500,000 on planting trees to provide shade for gorillas, according to the city budget approved this month.
Key facts: A San Antonio Zoo spokesperson told the San Antonio Report that the money will be used on “trees for animal wellbeing and guest comfort, providing more shade and greenery within the zoo grounds.”
The cash will be taken out of the city’s Tree Canopy Preservation and Mitigation Fund, which charges urban developers for cutting down trees during construction.
The fees, worth up to $600 per inch of tree trunk diameter, are supposed to be used to replant greenery in the same streets and neighborhoods they were removed from — not to acquiesce to napping apes.
The fund collected $9 million last year and used it to plant 12,600 trees, according to the San Antonio Report. The nonprofit San Antonio Trees, which advocated for the fund’s creation in 1996, told the news site that the zoo is violating the ordinance’s intent.
The zoo’s two-acre gorilla exhibit is expected to open in late 2025. It includes a 60-foot viewing tower for an “immersive experience” that FOX says will “blur the lines” between “gorillas and visitors.”
Background: The gorilla exhibit is part of a planned $65 million renovation of the zoo, funded by both private and public money. The nonprofit San Antonio Zoological Society has already secured a $10 million bond from the city, and another $10 million in property taxes will be redirected to the zoo.
The project began with a new $13 million entrance unveiled in December, complete with a gigantic gorilla topiary and a canopy of model butterflies stretched over visitors’ heads.
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Summary: While caring for gorillas is noble, that’s not why these funds were collected in the first place. And with millions in public funds already going to the zoo, the gorillas should be fine without a $500,000 government handout.
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