For months now, San Francisco Mayor London Breed has been working on a plan to bring the famed giant Chinese pandas to the city's zoo.
She believes the beloved animals could be key to her ongoing effort to help the city's economic rebound from the pandemic.
And on Tuesday, the board of supervisors offered a key vote of support for the plan.
Breed's plan involves raising millions of private dollars to build a habitat for the pandas at the zoo, pay for the expenses to get them to San Francisco, and care for them while they're here.
To do that, the board of supervisors voted to sign off on the rules the mayor needs to follow in order to raise that money.
Breed said the San Francisco Zoo has already been consulting with the San Diego Zoo about the mayor's panda project.
San Diego hosted pandas until 2019 and will be hosting them again later this year.
"It is a destination, not just because it's a great zoo, but because of the pandas and they draw huge crowds,” Breed said.
She said she hopes the pandas will draw the same kinds of crowds.
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If they come, San Francisco would only be the fourth zoo in North America to host the Chinese giant panda bears.
Zoo visitors said pandas would be an interesting addition.
"I've never seen them before, so getting to see one in person would be an exciting experience," Ryan O’Hargan, who was visiting from Seattle, said.
"These are animals that require great care so, as long as they provide the necessity for the animals, physically and mentally, then yeah,” Andy Nguyen, of San Jose, said.
Before San Francisco can host the panda bears, China has a number of requirements for their habitat and their care.
The mayor's plan involves raising the millions of dollars needed for those requirements from private donors. But not everyone is on board.
A group called In Defense of Animals said the San Francisco Zoo's facilities for the animals it currently hosts are inadequate.
Recent reports by former zoo employees of animals being injured or killed has also raised concerns from zoo critics.
"There's so many issues with the San Francisco Zoo that one former zoo keeper told us the only way that you'd be able to fix it is by just starting over," Fleur Dawes of In Defense of Animals said.
They spent part of their day passing out signed petitions to supervisors signed by residents who oppose the panda project.
Mayor Breed is undeterred.
"Our goal is to not doubt and not go backwards. We're trying to move forward,” she said. “And we're trying to make sure that this is the best situation for the pandas as possible."
The approval of the board of supervisors Tuesday means the mayor can now form an official fundraising committee and start collecting pledges of financial support for getting pandas to the San Francisco Zoo.
