We’ve had some experience. I guess I’m, you know, I flunked diplomacy and tact. I think you hit them head on and you hit them right straight head on. Absolutely no, none of this being a nice guy or appeasement. You hit them head on and you tell the story… Read More
They travel well. They live well. Those guys generally don’t fly first class. Early on from a guy that I knew that went to work for one of these groups, and I was a lot younger and a bit naive then. And he asked me if I do some consulting. Read More
And that’s the story you want to tell your press right up front. And I think trying to, I think trying to be nice and accommodate and sit down and invite these guys into the table and negotiate and all is a waste of time because, you know, they will,… Read More
I think I’m fairly convinced that you can’t just say, alright, you, you know, you’ve got a college degree I want you to do this. Cause it probably, unless that individual already has an interest and a fire in their belly to do it, it’s not going to work. It’s… Read More
Could you give us your thoughts on how best to deal with these type of groups?… Read More
What kind of recommendations would you make to small and medium sized zoos if they’re thinking about future exhibits or conservation projects?… Read More
What would you be recommending to them?… Read More
Well, from an exhibit standpoint, I think, you know, one of the mistakes is, you know, is, is necessarily, is one size doesn’t fit all, you know, you shouldn’t have the same collection everybody else does. You need, you would like to have collections that, that fit in so that… Read More
And so poaching lemurs kinda, you know, became something that was happening. And by going into the schools and, you know, we’d been shipping school supplies to Madagascar for the schools and the areas where we’re working in container, you know, a big 20 foot container lots. And, you know,… Read More
You know, explained to everybody that we’re not going to come in here as a bunch of gringos and tell you that you cannot or should not, or that’s a sin to eat a tree kangaroo for some ceremonial occasion, but that if you don’t manage them, there’s not going… Read More
But what would you say, how does a smaller or medium size municipal zoo today, how can they be involved with wildlife conservation, either on a national or international level?… Read More
Well, I think if, you know, in a smaller zoo, can’t, you know, as, as we couldn’t in the early days, we couldn’t afford a, you know, a big research staff and a big field staff, you know, in those early days, you know, only got only guy, you know,… Read More
The same thing holds true for dolphins and killer whales and aquariums a whole lot of things. I mean, you know, if, if it wasn’t for dolphins in captivity and killer whales and Shamu, I don’t, I really don’t believe people would show the same concern and support. And so… Read More
And so a lot of animals are going to go extinct. Read More
Is this one of the reasons why you felt field work was important in Omaha Zoo?… Read More
Absolutely, yeah. Absolutely. Though the work that Ed and his group have done in Madagascar have directly helped and influence the gazetting of, I think, 17 or 18 new protected areas for lemurs, because every time they did identify a new species and, you know, the, you know, there are… Read More
But it really didn’t, you know, really didn’t serve as an advocate to the outside world or to market to the outside world. And so in that respect, AZA is doing a lot better. I, you know, the big problem I see is the, is the bureaucracy and this, this… Read More
How would you describe zoos now, but what would you like to see them become in the future?… Read More
Well, I think, yeah, I think, you know, I, I think a lot of zoos are, are really. Number one, if it weren’t for zoos, you know, because there are all kinds of people that will say, hey, if you’d spend this same amount of money on preserving habitat in… Read More
I mean, and so meeting the accreditation standards is, if a guy wants to use it and use it in the right way is good leverage and people, lots of people have used it very beneficially. The downside, the bad side of that is not all, but certainly some, a… Read More