The San Francisco Zoo is a 100-acre (40 ha) zoo located in the south-western corner of San Francisco, California, housing more than 260 animal species. 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 two zebras, a cape buffalo, five rhesus monkeys, two spider monkeys and three elephants. Today it includes a Gorilla Reserve, housing Western lowland gorillas (the birthplace of Koko the famous signing gorilla), and a Primate Discovery Forest containing common chimpanzees, macaques, mandrills and several species of monkey.
History
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Caesar's First Visit
Scientist Dr. Will Rodman secretly took his three-year-old chimpanzee surrogate son, Caesar, to the San Francisco Zoo primatologist Dr. Caroline Aranha for medical attention 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 now leading a mass breakout of genetically altered apes (from the San Bruno Primate Shelter and Gen-Sys Laboratories), had his gorilla friend Buck lead a band of apes and break into the San Francisco Zoo. This act not only terrified the people there but liberated countless apes such as gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees greatly increasing the ape army's numbers as well 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 against the humans and they fled the zoo with their new brethren. Caesar then tried to bring all the apes to freedom at the Muir Woods Park redwood forest 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 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 not problems, Caesar taking a police horse led had his army attack the defenseless officers beginning the first battle to determine the ape's future.
Freedom
After the fierce battle which resulted in many deaths on the humans side, and some deaths on the apes side most of these apes survived and reached the Muir Woods Park to live in true freedom with their own kind.
Evolving
After the ape rebellion it would seem these apes have grown smarter due to them interacting with the evolved apes or having contracted the ALZ-113 from them and are now able to take part in hunting and sign language among the other apes. The non-evolved apes have become more organized 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. It is unknown if any of these apes have had children with some of the evolved apes and if their children would inherit intelligence while in the embryo like in the case with Caesar and his children.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes Comics
Two years, after the ape rebellion Pope leads a scouting party for Caesar's Ape Army into the Zoo looking for supplies and people. While there, two of Pope's apes, Fifer and Cora, were attacked by a group of primal apes that greatly outnumbered Pope's troops. Pope and his troops retreated, but came back where Pope challenged their Alpha to a fight. The Alpha nonverbally stated the battle would he hand to hand without spears or clubs by breaking a stick in half. Pope broke his spear in half to make it appear he was agreeing to the alpha's terms while keeping the tip of his spear hidden in his hand. When the alpha lunged at Pope he pulled the tip out and stabbed the alpha in the head, calling him a stupid animal and taking over his position at the Alpha of the San Francisco Zoo where he trained the primal apes to fight for him and eventually take over Caesar's Ape Colony. Fifer and Cora attempted to flee to warn Caesar but Cora was captured and killed while Fifer escaped to warn Caesar but died of wounds he sustained by one of Rex's loyal gorilla followers, Rex. Pope would keep the primal apes in cages when he wasn't training them and later locked humans in the cages after Bon found a group of them nearby. The Zoo eventually became the center of a battle between Pope's breakaway faction and a group of Caesar's loyalists led by Koba. Pope and Rex were killed by Koba making Caesar's forces victorious. Koba then announced that those apes that betrayed Caesar for Pope were herby banished from Caesar's colony while the primal apes were welcomed into Caesar's colony with open arms.
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.
Appearances
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (BOOM! Studios)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
See Also
- West African Jungle
- San Francisco
- San Bruno Primate Shelter
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Muir Woods Park
- Gen-Sys Laboratories
- Ape Village
- Ape Gate
- Caesar's Home (CE)