Airship steers clear of city’s zoo
May 27, 2009
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| ‘Seemed like a cool thing’: Airship Ventures, which flys a zeppelin over The City, “had no idea” that its flight pattern over the San Francisco Zoo was disturbing animals. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Calm has been restored at the San Francisco Zoo, despite its location in the flight pattern of a private zeppelin company.
Last fall, Moffett Field-based Airship Ventures started flying a zeppelin over The City, offering residents and tourists a chance to catch a glimpse of San Francisco Bay from 1,300 feet above ground.
But in addition to views of downtown skyscrapers and the Golden Gate Bridge, the 246-foot-long aircraft also calmly cruised over the zoo — and the results were anything but serene.
The presence of the zeppelin had a strange and dangerous effect on animals. They grew frantic, shouting and putting themselves at risk for self-inflicted injuries, according to zoo officials.
Animal curators immediately alerted Airship Ventures, demanding it change the flight pattern.
The lemurs, chimps and other animals reacted in a “crazy” way to the zeppelin, Animal Division team leader Carl Friedman said. “[Zeppelins] fly low, are extremely large, cast an extremely large shadow and make no noise.”
The chimps, in particular, “would call out and kind of hoot and holler in what would be known as a distress call,” zoo spokeswoman Gwendolyn Tornatore said. “It’s something that they do. It’s something that bothers them.”
The company “had no idea” of the aircraft’s effect on the animals below, Friedman said. “Flying over the zoo seemed like a cool thing.”
Friedman said Airship Ventures has “been accommodating” since being contacted last fall, when the company began offering rides on the aircraft.
Airship Ventures CEO Alex Hall said once the company was told about the impact on animals, it established a policy “that we keep as far away from the zoo as we possibly can.”
The flight pattern, however, is limited by orders from air traffic control at San Francisco International Airport, and also the weather. Since December, the last time the zoo contacted the company — when the Zeppelin was privately chartered and flew over the zoo — the policy “seems to have worked,” Hall said.
Friedman said the zeppelin must fly off the coast for it not to impact the animals’ behavior, and that even flying over Ocean Beach will cause them to act up.
Since contacting the company last year, there have been no problems with the zeppelin, he said. “If they do stray over here we are going to know about it,” Friedman said.
And if they do, he said, the company will receive a phone call.
Animal behavior
The zoo and Airship Ventures have resolved a flight-pattern issue.
San Francisco Zoo
- More than 250 species of animals
Airship Ventures’ zeppelin
- 246-feet long
- Flies about 1,300 feet above ground at 35 mph
- Capacity: Two crew members, up to 12 passengers
- Cost starts at $375 per person
Sources: airshipventures.com, San Francisco Zoo
jsabatini@sfexaminer.com
