And actually Patricia O’Connor, who is a well-known person at Staten Island and other places, I don’t know you remember her or not, but she is… She does a lot by producing a bibliography of mammals and birds in the early 1950s. That was a seminal publication, and yet it… Read More
Oh, well, I think it does matter because veterinarian may have been there the longest, and so for kind of senior people and they figure they got to put them in, but unless the veterinarian has some degree of administrative ability, not just… Or ability to get trained in administrative… Read More
Now, you’ve been around and seen zoos for a number of years, what would you say is the largest professional problem facing U.S. zoos today?… Read More
And is there something that might help correct it?… Read More
Well, I think the biggest professional problem is the ability to meet the needs of the public and the lack of financial abilities to accomplish that task in some situations. But I think the other thing is that in any aspect, whether it’s administrative finance, public relations and these sorts… Read More
Do you have any opinion on that?… Read More
Zoo directors, particularly of large zoos have a major job running a big business. And as a result of that, we’re getting non-animal oriented people into the business, and that’s not bad as long as they surround themselves with good people that are animal oriented. And the thing that is… Read More
Is there an advantage or disadvantage to being a veterinarian and being a zoo director or is it just academic doesn’t matter?… Read More
Some of the basic principles are the same, they need to do that general veterinarian medicine first. When I started out, it was all physical restraint. So if they became good veterinarians in general, now the newer things that are necessary for them to become skilled is once they get… Read More
Now you’re looking at this next question, maybe from a distance, but what would you say are the pros and cons of the new wave of the zoo directors?… Read More
A large number have more non-animal related background, such as business administration. Read More
Are we rolling?… Read More
What made you a good veterinarian in your opinion?… Read More
In my opinion. Well, I think the fact that I was interested in all kinds of animals gave me an edge, and I felt that I needed to become first, a good veterinarian, and then somebody later on that branched out to another realm. But I felt that that was… Read More
What skillset qualities does the zoo veterinarian need today as compared to when you started?… Read More
Did you ever handle any high stakes horses?… Read More
Oh yeah, swaps. Actually when I was in practice, we did all kinds of things, and when I was at the university, we were aware of all of the big mucky mucks in the entertainment industry. And I have tickets to any of the big shows there because the owners… Read More
And so I ultimately had to castrate the animal too, but that was just a fly by night on that one. Did the owners is hover over you when you were doing things. No, not really. They were mostly absentee owners so that the animals were… The people that hovered… Read More
Well, the epiphany was of changing from a poor to mediocre student was maturity for one thing. I think that current students, particularly young man start college life with, “I’m gonna party.” They were either more interested in girls or interested in cars, and they literally botchered the first two… Read More
Although I had to work, I was never just I could get any grade I wanted to, I had to work, but I knew how to do that and I did. Read More