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
How do we make that connection with teenagers to heighten their awareness of the natural world?… Read More
That’s a very difficult question. Or even the age class of about 35 to about 55 because in zoos, you’ll often hear, I haven’t been at the zoo for 20 years because my children are adults and my grandchildren are still too small. So in European zoos, a lot of… Read More
And there is, in Europe, and maybe in America too, I’m not sure. In Frankfurt, we have a lot of citizens coming from Turkey, for example. And the percentage of zoo visitors from Turkey, was much, much lower than the percentage in the population of Frankfurt. That’s another field where… Read More
Did you invite them to the zoo?… Read More
Did you try to make them feel special in any way?… Read More
I invited them again and again, and always told the press, all the press the same at the same time. But sometimes, and this I found very interesting, the press approached me, as zoo director, and they said oh, we have a half a page free. Could we have an… Read More
Did you try and cultivate the press, the media?… Read More
Did you give them special tours?… Read More
What can you tell me about the importance of marketing my zoo?… Read More
What are the most important things I should know about that?… Read More
Marketing is important, but I think some zoos exaggerate this. Frankfurt Zoo, for example, as a city zoo, has had a very small budget. And I can’t remember how much money I have had, maybe 30,000 or at the most 100,000 Euro per year. So it’s nothing compared to many… Read More
There are, of course, a lot of trials. One, for example, is feeding of giraffes, for example. In my mind, that’s the wrong way to go. We should respect the animals as they are and we should be able to observe their natural feeding and not to give tidbits at… Read More