San Francisco Zoo

San Francisco Zoo
Location information
Location(s)	San Francisco, California, United States
Use(s)	Zoo
Status	Abandoned
Continuity	Movies (CE)
Only Appearance	Rise of the Planet of the Apes

The San Francisco Zoo was a 100-acre zoo located in the south-western corner of San Francisco, California. Housing more than 260 animal species, it was originally named the Fleishhacker Zoo after its founder - banker and San Francisco Parks Commission president Herbert Fleishhacker - planning for construction began in 1929.

Most of the original exhibits were populated with animals transferred from Golden Gate Park, including zebras, rhesus monkeys, spider monkeys, and elephants. It also included a Gorilla Reserve and contained of chimpanzees, macaques, mandrills, and several species of monkeys.

History

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Caesar's First Visit

Scientist Dr. Will Rodman secretly took his three-year-old surrogate chimpanzee son, Caesar, to the San Francisco Zoo to receive medical attention from primatologist Caroline Aranha after an incident with their violent neighbor Douglas Hunsiker. This is where, Caesar had first encountered the chimpanzees held in the zoo's enclosure and met his future adoptive human mother. The chimpanzees having witnessed Caesar shrieked out of jealousy that Caesar was living free outside bars. There was a female Zoo Guide who also worked as another employee at the zoo.

Ape Rebellion

Five years later, Caesar led a mass breakout of genetically altered apes from the San Bruno Primate Shelter and Gen-Sys Laboratories and had his gorilla friend Buck lead a band of apes to break into the San Francisco Zoo. This act liberated countless apes, greatly increasing the ape army's numbers and proving themselves to a be a more powerful threat to humanity. When liberating the captive apes, the evolved apes used the bars on their cages as spears like weapons and fled the zoo with their new brethren. Caesar then tried to bring all the apes to freedom at the Muir Woods which laid across the Golden Gate Bridge. Seeing only rampaging wild animals, the San Francisco authorities tried to corral the apes on the bridge and massacre them.

Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge

On the bridge, these apes were then put under the command of the ape leaders; the chimpanzees under Rocket and Koba, the orangutans under Maurice and the gorillas under Buck. Caesar, the alpha of the entire group launched a three pronged attack with the chimpanzees attacking from the bridge's high wires, the orangutans attacking from below the bridge with the main forces being led to attack the police. Caesar then had the gorillas push a bus in range of the police bullets which left the police unable to attack. With no problems, Caesar took a police horse and led had his army attack the defenseless officers, beginning the first battle to determine the ape's future. After the fierce battle which resulted in many deaths on both sides, most of the apes survived and reached the Muir Woods to live in true freedom with their own kind.

Evolution

After the Ape Rebellion, these apes grew smarter due to them contracting the ALZ-113 virus after it spread globally, allowing them to take part in hunting and use sign language among the other apes. As a result, these apes became more civilized and it would seem many of them now stand in the high ranks such as a gorilla named Luca who serves as the new fourth-in-command of the ape army even without being given the ALZ-113 drug directly. It is unknown if any of these apes had children with some of the evolved apes.

Notes

• An earlier version of the script paid particular attention to the alpha male chimp in the zoo enclosure, who had noticed Caesar on his visit to the zoo and later submitted to Caesar's leadership during their escape.
• Claimed by producers/screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver in the commentary on the Blu-Ray disc of Rise of the Planet of the Apes that the apes at the zoo did not get the ALZ-113 gene therapy, but they instinctively followed the other apes.
• It is currently unknown what happened to all the other (non-ape) animals in the zoo, but it's most likely all of them died of starvation due to the abandonment of the zoo once the Simian Flu outbreak started.

Appearances

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios)
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #3
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #4
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #5
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes #6
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

See Also

• Ape Village
• Ape Gate
• Caesar's Home (CE)
• Golden Gate Bridge
• Gen-Sys Laboratories
• Muir Woods
• San Francisco
• San Bruno Primate Shelter
• West African Jungle

External Links

• San Francisco Zoo at Wikipedia
• San Francisco Zoo Official Website