Well, when I retired, there were a few projects on the drawing board that I never- A few dreams that did not materialize. One major facility that I really wanted to build before I left or be involved in the building was a new reptile, amphibian complex. You know, my… Read More
I envisioned a much fancier building along the lines of the insect building. Another proud accomplishment I had that I did get off the drawing board was Manatee Springs, the manatee exhibit, which is a good ecological exhibit. It’s designed all around the state of Florida. In fact, I personally,… Read More
Does that work with Manatee conservation?… Read More
Yes. Read More
Yes, I have an interest. I haven’t been doing much work with them. I’d like to get more, now that I’ve got a little more time, I’d like to get more involved in amphibian conservation, And I may see Dr. Rabb and see if there’s a place for me. Read More
If you could go back in time, what, if anything, would you have done differently?… Read More
Are there programs, exhibits that you would have implemented during your tenure that just didn’t happen?… Read More
Do you continue- To what extent do you continue to be active in the zoo field or in the conservation field?… Read More
Well, when I retired, I spent- I was not retired a year I accepted a interim position in Los Angeles for 13 months. That led to an interesting situation where we began to- I was approached by La Sierra University to do some work consulting on a possible museum of… Read More
So he’s trying to develop some rapport with the government. So I’ve been involved and we’ve been doing population counts, and I’ve been involved going down to Chile and I’ve done a lot of work in the Arctic. We’ve been working with alcids, and we’ve had scientists from Fairbanks that… Read More
Do you still have your interest in amphibians?… Read More
There are comparisons- If I were to compare the AAZAP with the AZA today, it would be a night and day issue. The early years, when we were associated with parks, we would come into meetings, we were a small group of directors and few curators, not very many curators,… Read More
Is it there yet, are we all happy with it?… Read More
I dunno if all members will ever be happy with it, but that’s part of the process. That’s what executes change. Read More
Has AZA been supportive of zoos do you feel in this arena of maintaining elephants?… Read More
Not enough, and I think really in terms of coming in and wanting to manage your animals, I don’t think that’s the way- I think they should the AZA should provide guidance, collective guidance coming from membership, or even from the board we elect, but I don’t think it’s necessary… Read More
How does the AZA of today that you’ve been associated with compare to the AAZPA, the beginning organization of 30 years ago?… Read More
What’s your view regarding the hot topic of zoos maintaining elephants in their collections?… Read More
Elephants are a zoo director’s nightmare in general. They’re large animals. They’re destructive. They can be dangerous. Yet they’re the most popular animals that the zoo has. And I think a zoo, if a zoo wants to, first of all, like all other animals that it maintains in houses, it… Read More
That’s why I looked for expansion in our elephant- We had five elephants living in an area that really was designed for one, and I went to the voters with that and I was able to get that turned around. It took some doing, but we were able to expand… Read More