Warren Thomas; Zoo Chief Resigned Amid Controversy

Warren D. Thomas, the controversial director of the Los Angeles Zoo who, over 16 years, built one of the greatest animal collections in the country and worked to save endangered species but resigned abruptly amid charges of mishandling animals and city money, has died. He was 70.

Thomas, director of the city-owned Griffith Park facility from 1974 to 1990, died March 17 of a sudden illness during a trip to Brunei, said his wife, Marilyn. He had spent the last decade consulting with zoos and lecturing on cruise ships on “Gorillas I Have Known and Loved.”

When Thomas came to Los Angeles more than a quarter-century ago, he had a far better established reputation than the Los Angeles Zoo, which was then a decade old. With a bachelor’s degree in zoology and doctorate in veterinary medicine from Ohio State University, Thomas had worked as a keeper at the Columbus Zoo, delivering the first gorilla born outside the wild and garnering coverage of the feat in Life magazine. He had also served as director of zoos in Oklahoma City, Omaha and Brownsville, Texas, designing and stocking them with animals.

At the time of his appointment by the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department, Thomas was hailed by his predecessor as “one of the most outstanding young professionals in the country.” Mayor Tom Bradley, announcing Thomas’ selection from a field of 20 candidates worldwide, said the city was very lucky to have him.

Thomas built the Los Angeles Zoo into an important family and tourist attraction with more than 500 species of mammals, birds and reptiles. When Australia gave the zoo six koalas in 1982, Thomas oversaw construction of a privately funded “Koala Hilton” to house them and personally accompanied the little marsupials on their flight from Melbourne to Los Angeles.

Widely respected for his animal conservation and breeding programs, Thomas involved the zoo in a cooperative breeding program to conserve the California condor and return birds born in protective captivity to the wild. He also helped establish the Sumatran Rhinoceros Trust by bringing together officials of four U.S. zoos and Indonesian authorities.

Gregarious, even charismatic, Thomas was well-liked and respected by most of his zookeepers but seen by critics as arrogant and overly eager to skirt government rules.

Thomas often found himself at odds with the fund-raising Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., which he accused of meddling in zoo operations. He said he “never understood [its] role as a support group.” He also feuded with the Humane Society of the United States, calling members unqualified “Joe Blows off the street.”

Early in his tenure, Thomas tangled with Department of Recreation and Parks Director James Hadaway, who suspended him for five days, saying that Thomas mishandled ivory pieces given to the zoo for safekeeping.

Then on June 4, 1986, Hadaway fired Thomas, charging him with using racial epithets around zoo employees, failing to assure proper paperwork for animal transfers and appropriating zoo supplies for personal use.

But U.S. District Judge William J. Rea reinstated Thomas, who settled his litigation against the city by accepting $29,000 in back pay and $140,912.38 in legal fees.

But four years after the thwarted dismissal, Thomas resigned on Oct. 5, 1990, hours before City Controller Rick Tuttle released an audit of what Thomas called his Zoo Emergency Fund.

Thomas said he started the account, which he alone controlled, in 1987 because the city’s inefficient bureaucracy couldn’t promptly process his requests to fund zoo purchases. The $78,003 in the fund came from fees paid by film studios, television networks and other businesses using the zoo for filming and promotions.

Auditors said Thomas violated several City Charter provisions by failing to inform his superiors about the fund, deposit it with the city and obtain city payment for zoo needs.

At the same time as the audit, Thomas was also under investigation for reportedly ignoring citations from the federal Agriculture Department over three years. The violations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, which Thomas dismissed as “basically minuscule,” included inadequate food storage, sanitation and drainage problems, pest and rodent contamination, inadequate housing and rundown animal barns.

Thomas and Daniel Kaufman also produced the book “Dolphin Conferences, Elephant Midwives and Other Astonishing Facts About Animals.”

Thomas is survived by his wife, Marilyn; three children from an earlier marriage, Miriam Beezy, Cherry Thomas and Eric Thomas; and five grandchildren.

The family has asked that memorial donations be sent to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. Gorilla Enclosure Fund.