That, you know, that really doesn’t work. We do, I think, you know, I think both Disney and, and SeaWorld all, the animal ambassador, I think we’re doing more and, and a lot of people doing the animal ambassadors where you take the animal that you can let them touch… Read More
Talking about that, but switching a little to a more formal education, do you think that education is helping to boost the image of zoos among the public in face of some of these anti-zoo groups?… Read More
Is education– Well, I, I think it does, but I don’t think we’re doing nearly as good. I think, I think, I think PETA and HSUS and some of the humane groups have been much more effective and they’ve had a plan at, at getting into the school groups. I… Read More
I said zoos. Into the schools and, and presenting our side of the story and the message, because I think, you know, I think frankly, PETA and HSUS, and some of these, these animal rights groups have done a much better job at beating us to death in the schools. Read More
Once you get the people to your zoo, the visitor, what should or can be done to make that visitor connection more meaningful?… Read More
Well, I think public pressure. There’s a couple of, you know, we, there’s a couple of ways to do that. One of the things that’s been pretty effective for us is to point out to them that the, the zoo has a pretty profound economic impact on the, on the… Read More
And then we’d put everybody in zoo t-shirts and we’d, you know, we’d fill the gallery with zoo supporters, which is a subtle way of telling them that there’s a lot of support out there. And then, you know, for a couple of mayors who were kind of obstinate, if… Read More
The top ones. Well, I, you know, I, I think are, you know, I mean one of them, I mean, the, the, you know, the fact that we’ve done a number of world-class exhibits that have really changed the perception of Omaha and changed the public perception of not just… Read More
And probably the last one is, you know, as in all the students we’ve handled the education, you know, not. The ripple effect from all of these students that have come through the place is really, you know, really turning out to be really big. And it’s not, you know,… Read More
Although, you know, the dormitory we had to go in and, and for our Asian students, we had to put in special hoods and fire extinguishers over the stoves because of the way they cook. (chuckling) Cause the fire alarms kept going off and the fire department kept showing up. Read More
(chuckling) I know you’ve had some experience with this, but what would you say is the most efficient way to deal with elected officials, which I’m sure you’ve had to deal with, and municipal bureaucrats to develop and manage a zoo today?… Read More
I guess I’m a dinosaur. And I think that’s a lot easier transition then than to bring in a CPA or a lawyer or something who then has to learn the animal side of things. I think you’re more apt to get in trouble if you start out with a… Read More
If I asked you today in three that you’re proudest of, what would those be?… Read More
What would the top be?… Read More
All right, define the changes, I guess. You know, I. Yeah. Read More
Well, let me, let me just kind of say, do you believe in the last 30 years that zoos have made changes in their way they operate as the zoo, and if they have, maybe it’s as Omaha Zoo is transitioned and represents other zoos or not, have there been… Read More
Well, yeah, no, I think, there’s no question zoos have become much more professional at exhibiting animals. You know, our animal exhibits are a much more naturalistic, much more professional. Then, you know, then 40 or 50 years ago, when I first got into this business. From the, you know,… Read More
Well, I think you’re back to, I think you back to, to conservation research and, and in situ conservation, you know, I mean our, of all of the things that we’re doing, I mean, part of it is, you know, is, is influencing public perception and the way the public… Read More
And all of a sudden, you know, we’re getting an 80%, 80% success rate, both on males and females, which is, you know, that’s a huge, huge jump forward from 10% to 80%. And it’s something that you can, that you can do easy. And, you know, it could be,… Read More
That’s kind of shifted. Read More