And once they reach that space, they can’t keep producing animals if they don’t have a place to dispose of them. And AZA won’t address the euthanasia issue at all. I mean, it’s been brought up a number of times, and I don’t know if we wanted to go one… Read More
Was this your first trip to acquire animals?… Read More
And it’s instantaneous and you don’t have to spend hours searching the web. So anyway, it’s too bad. A bit of a broader question, and as you were again part of the zoo in the ’60s and ’70s, federal legislation, more interest in animals and endangered species, zoos had kind… Read More
How did the National Zoo change and continue to respond to those kinds of pressures?… Read More
Did you feel pressure?… Read More
The Endangered Species Act in, and I believe it was ’75, but I’m not sure of the exact date, but it changed everything. I mean, it really did. I mean, the acquisition of animals became a very difficult task. And before you could go to, I don’t know how many… Read More
Who were your mentors?… Read More
Well, Ted, was certainly my mentor. I mean, he didn’t actually tell me I had to write papers. I think that was something that just happened. And it happened because of things that we were doing in the zoo that were really kind of first time things. I mean, first… Read More
And these were just kind of vignettes, they were things that were going on and I thought were really interesting. You can’t get people to write papers now. I mean, it just, I don’t know about other zoos, but I’ll tell you the national, it’s like pulling teeth. We have… Read More
The curatorial position was funded by the Friends of the National Zoo. It was for an 18 month period. These people had to apply for the position. They all had PhDs and they would come in and they would work with our curatorial staff and with the keepers. And they… Read More
Every single one of them went out and got well paid, very, very good positions as curators, general curators. And in some cases, even directors and that program fell apart in the ’90s. And I tried to instigate it again when I came back the second time and we ended… Read More
A question about, as you were under a Dr. Reed and you were doing these trips and so forth to, two parts, did you have mentors at the time, whether it be Dr. Reed or other people who were shaping and talking to you that you respected and who started… Read More
And is it in your opinion continuing today?… Read More
I mean, we put people that are now in major positions, in major zoos throughout the US. Read More
Explain what that is, what’s the curatorial?… Read More
And this was before Ted had decided to look for a facility similar to that for the zoo. And I worked with both Ted and John Perry on looking at sites for Front Royal or what was to become Front Royal. And I mean, we looked at all kinds of… Read More
That helped your professional growth?… Read More
Yes it not only helped me with my professional growth with the National Zoo, but it also got me into being able to talk to other directors at other zoos. I mean, I talked to Conway, went out to Denver, talked to Fry Height, and we had sent Oranga out… Read More
I mean, not only did I learn a lot, but I met a lot of people. He would send every one of his curatorial staff, almost everyone, every single year to either the regional conferences or to the primary convention for the AZA. And it gave us an opportunity to… Read More
And I had been after Ben to get me a grade raise and he wouldn’t give me a grade raise at, I mean, just would not do it. And I remember they had a major issue that happened in the graphics department, and the head of the graphics department left. Read More