I think these close-up encounters, having keepers standing in front of exhibits, talking about what they do has been a nice positive change for the public to learn more. I used to do, I’ve actually called it a grab-and-go and I was told, don’t call it that anymore. It’s not… Read More
Do you wanna join me?… Read More
Oh. You know, as much collaborative work as we do, sometimes we’re just very stubborn about wanting to collaborate. And I think it’s as simple as that. People just had a hard time wanting to collaborate on this and it just floors me because it’s not difficult. We should be… Read More
It shouldn’t be that hard to do. Read More
Oh, why didn’t they do it?… Read More
Is that a recent?… Read More
No. Read More
Why didn’t they do it?… Read More
I don’t know if I know all the details of that. Read More
Why do you think zoos didn’t implement a major elephant national breeding program?… Read More
That’s where the wild animal park was so important. Because not only did it have a collection out there that could support the zoo in some cases and the zoo could support the wild animal park, but we had off-holding as well where we had animals that weren’t on exhibit,… Read More
Yeah, yeah. Big time. We need ancillary facilities. We need remote facilities to help support our collection, breeding philosophies and actions. We need land, you know, it’s a hospital with a lot of beds in it and they’re all full. So we need to have that space available to us. Read More
Does space continue to be a problem for zoos and aquariums?… Read More
Not open to the public, but just a breeding facility. Busch Gardens has one just outside Dade City. They’ve had there for years, you know, so it’s kind of the safety valve. You can send stuff out there, hold it, you know what, because it’s about collection sustainability. And the… Read More
That way if the budget starts to get wonky, we know what’s going on with it. Or we can anticipate problems with the budget if there’s been a lot of collection movement. Now, one elephant’s gonna make a big impact, you know, but 10 finches, you’re barely gonna see it. Read More
It’s just understanding that we have impact coming one way or the other, positive or negative, it’s okay. Read More
Well, maybe. Maybe there’s a combination of ways we pay for that. But, you know, I understand it. What we set up in ZooTampa was the forage manager, for instance, has the entire collection what everything costs to feed, down to the nickel. Animals come and go. Well, she knows… Read More
That mean I need to increase the gate to pay for it?… Read More
No, I’ve always battled that. I don’t like it because, first of all, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that. I think that comes from the business side of the equation. But it’s not possible. I mean, you know, the interesting argument is like we had a philosophical discussion… Read More
It’s like, if I wanted another elephant, let’s say I had to pay, I don’t know, a hundred thousand dollars for that elephant, then the CFO jumped in and said, and where’s that money coming from?… Read More