And I had had very little contact with him because I was working in horticulture. The contact I had had with him was not always pleasant. He was not a good manager of people. But I reported to his office and he said, first words out of his mouth, he said, “Do you have a passport?” I said, “No, I don’t have a passport.” “Well, you need to get a passport.” “Why do I need a passport?” “Well, you’re going to Germany and bring back a pair of Siberian tigers. These are gonna be the first major animals for the zoo, and I’ve managed to secure two of the finest Siberian tigers in the world for the zoo, and you’re gonna go get them.” I’ve never seen a tiger, (laughs) you know. “Sure, I’ll go.” So I get a passport, and the next thing I know, I’m on an airplane and fly to Germany and end up in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, which is where the Ruhe family had a… It was an interesting, there was a city zoo, the Gelsenkirchen Zoo, but the zoo was really owned by the Ruhe family, famous German animal dealers, and that’s where they kept their inventory. (laughs) So you might be a member or a resident of Gelsenkirchen and go to the zoo one day and see a tiger and two days later it’s gone. ’cause he’s sold it to a zoo somewhere in the world.
