Well, of course, we did the master planning and I couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t even finish the ape facility that I planned. This was opened by my successor. But these were the priorities I have had. The next would’ve been a bear exhibit. My successor opened now a very… Read More
So we keep them on the right social condition. The diet usually is optimal. Very often it’s too good because the keeper is sorry for an animal and gives a little bit more and so, as in humans, many zoo animals are rather too fat. And it’s very difficult to… Read More
Another thing is that views more and more symbolic borders for zoo enclosures. Of course, not for elephants or bears or big cats but Lota Deitrich, the sometimes director of Hanover Zoo, developed dry moats for antelopes. And he made trials. If the moats were more than 1.2 meters, the… Read More
And I, therefore, avoid always captivity and say under human care. And I avoid the term freedom as well. A lot of people think all the animals in the wild, they are free. And especially a golden eagle roaming in the sky, they think it’s wonderful how free this flies… Read More
The word captivity. Unfortunately, Heini Hediger titled his most important book, “Wild Animals in Captivity”. And at least in German, but I think in English it’s not far away. In German, captivity means prison. And there’s a mental difference between a prisoner and a zoo animal. Although, there was one… Read More
He’s deprived from social contacts. Probably the food is not the very best and so on. So that’s a punishment. Our zoo animals are not at all punished. We try to offer them the best social conditions. Of course, we can not keep 100,000 penguins or flamingos. But nowadays, we… Read More
Well, a colleague and friend of me is the director of Frostduck Zoo, employed me as a consultant for a new ape facility, huge ape facility and evolution museum at Arveneum in Sorostin. And I’m still on the board of quite a good Swiss zoo keeping European animals, (speaking in… Read More
You can, frankly, say what you think and in spite of this, almost all the doors of zoos are open and colleagues obviously still enjoy when I visit them. So it’s really a wonderful time. Read More
Can you tell me about what captivity means to a zoo?… Read More
Why should we enter the elephant enclosure?… Read More
Of course, there are not domesticated but tamed elephants in Asia. But this is another very bad chapter. The influence between Europe and Asia in keeping elephants. There are Asian zoos, where elephants are chained maybe 22 hours a day, which is horrible, chained single. And then Europeans say, oh,… Read More
But to what extent do you continue to be active in the zoo field or in the conservation field?… Read More
I was very happy that my predecessor had to decide about giving up elephants because probably for him, it was the most difficult decision to take because the public couldn’t understand it, that there isn’t enough space in Frankfurt Zoo for elephants. The issue, it started with bottle nose dolphins. Read More
For example, to start with an all young group of the same age, it’s not natural. And these animals will fight for dominance. This can last 10 years or longer. And this might be very severe for the sub dominant animals. So you have to start with a group with… Read More
I think we should no longer train elephants and I think hands on should no longer be done. Nobody tries to enter the bear enclosure or the tiger enclosure. Read More
For me, this would be the biggest problem. Of course, we have to proceed with conservation, especially with signs, with education and so on, that’s clear. But the problem would be that and that’s a very delicate and difficult problem. How to screen zoos and so on and what to… Read More
But what is your regard, what is your position, on zoos maintaining elephants in their collections?… Read More
What issues are you gonna tell them, I want you to start addressing?… Read More
I’m happy that I’m not WZA president. I think that the biggest problem, most zoo organizations, not only the global ones but the regional ones as well, there are some institutions that do not fulfill the standards but are members. Read More
And how to deal with these institutions?… Read More