Durin’ this time of both Bob Briggs and Dick Schultz, I had the opportunity to be part of changing zoo philosophy. Up until that time, up until the late ’60s, early ’70s, the St. Louis Zoo was famous for the animal shows. Chimpanzee show was the most popular show anywhere, followed by the big cat show with Jules Jacot as the trainer and the elephant show with Floyd Smith as the trainer. At the same time, it began to be aware that these animals were becoming endangered. Chimpanzees were becoming endangered. It was well-known that the source of baby chimps was when natives killed adult chimps for food. They would take the babies and hand raise ’em and sell ’em to dealers. And then these were the chimps who were being supplied to zoos.
