Departures of note

On 25 November 1938 Mordecai Schornstein handed over ownership of all his animals to the Zoo Society in exchange for their transfer to a new location and provisioning, and he was promised the position of zoo director. The zoo opened as planned, but disagreements led Schornstein to demand nullifying the agreement; at the end of 1939 the dispute went to arbitration and the Society stopped paying his salary.

After the Tel Aviv municipality forbade him from selling pets in August 1940, Schornstein marched into the zoo offices on 27 August 1940 and took three Palestine pounds from the desk, claiming it covered his withheld wages. The accountant reported the incident, a police complaint was filed, Schornstein was charged with theft on 25 September 1940, convicted, and bailed for five pounds for six months. In November 1940 arbitrators ruled the animals remained with the Society, which would pay Schornstein 300 pounds and his salary as director until November 1940.