Right, we were asked by our board what was the most significant animal in our collection that we needed to work on. And Jim and I did a presentation to the board and said it was elephants, it was African elephants. And so the short answer to that story is… Read More
Is this a species we just need to leave in the wild and forget about it. But we have learned a lot and we’ve done a lot on the science side with elephants and this virus that they can contract is all been because they’ve been in managed populations. And… Read More
Can you tell us about the importation of the elephants from Swaziland?… Read More
I mean, this is how devastating that was. And said give us an opportunity to come back with a better management philosophy and style. And they did. And that’s operant conditioning with a lot in between what I just said from the beginning to end of that. But that death,… Read More
And the focus that we were told by the board, the board had the final decision, are we getting out of elephants or not?… Read More
It’s like, should we even be doing this?… Read More
Can you talk about safety with elephants?… Read More
I think for the most part they should. I don’t know if every exhibit, you know, should have to do that. I think we’ve got to make sure that we’re messaging and doing what we should with the public to make sure that they understand why we’re investing the money,… Read More
Yeah, the death at the wild animal park was, I don’t know how else to put it other than it brings you to your core and the keeper didn’t do anything wrong. The keeper actually wasn’t doing anything wrong, was just in the wrong place. And when two 10,000-pound elephants… Read More
Okay?… Read More
Just let them be animals. Some of the veterinarians I’ve worked with, I appreciate a great deal when it comes to their approach to a medical evaluation. And the ones I like are the old-school vets who go, let’s give this a day or two before we jump in there. Read More
Should all newly constructed exhibits incorporate some conservation conclusion?… Read More
What’d you mean by that?… Read More
It’s basically back to the micromanaging, let’s stop micromanaging species. Let’s let them follow their natural behavior and let’s learn from that rather than trying to micromanage everything to the point where we’re causing trouble. And I think I’ve seen certainly my share of animal care people, and managers, and… Read More
How would you like to be remembered, your legacy?… Read More
It’s tough. I mean, I’d like to be remembered that I contributed, I think bottom line that I contributed because many of the projects I’ve been involved with, they’re not done yet. They’re still gonna go on, you know, after I’ve retired. But that I did my best to contribute… Read More
You said let animals be animals. Read More
What do I know today about them?… Read More
And what do you know about the profession that you’ve devoted so many years of your life in serving?… Read More
What do you know about this profession?… Read More