Well, I think that’s a question I really cannot answer myself. You have to ask colleagues what made me a good zoo director. I’m not even sure I was a good zoo director, but it’s very difficult to say this myself. I’m happy about several new, good exhibits, I think. Read More
What talents do you think you brought that you transferred from when you were at the Zurich Zoo?… Read More
Of course now it’s fashionable to speak of global breeding programs and I’ve been the EEP coordinator for gorillas, which is probably, beside elephant and dolphins, the most difficult one because every gorilla, or a lot of gorillas are known by the keeper, by the director, by the grader, by… Read More
And, for example, yes, we discussed vicuna international studbook and the EEP I’m keeping since 1985. We are, for example, now in the coming few months, sending six pair of vicunas to the states. And I hope that they will create an SSP, with which we will very closely work… Read More
How do I reach it?… Read More
And they’re playing with individual animals just for the attraction of the visitor. Maybe it’s harsh, mean. It’s probably too harsh this but I think we have to say it very clear to see the big differences. There are great exhibits in a lot of American zoos I really esteem… Read More
One last question, in this cooperation thing, has the EEP and the SSP tried to be cooperative with one another in the needs of each, not each zoo, but of zoos within those two different areas?… Read More
And a sloth shouldn’t be kept single. It can not reproduce being kept single. So I think we are going more from the animal side and look what the animals need and try to make it attractive to the visitor. Read More
And the American way is rather, how can I attract the visitor?… Read More
I already mentioned, if we planned a new exhibit, we first made a collection planning and then looked what is the requirement for each species?… Read More
How do they live in the wild and what habitat and so on?… Read More
And then we gave this to the architect. And I learned in a zoo I was very graciously welcomed, a totally different approach. It’s a huge, I do not call it a zoo. It’s a huge exhibit and the director said, and you know here, we needed some colors so… Read More
Is it just one-on-one, director-to-director or is there a relationship?… Read More
The relationship between European and North American zoo directors, and these including Australia, are of course to reach in the forefront of zoos. It’s of course mainly, or it takes place mainly during the WZA meetings. But we have had a lot of American colleagues visiting Zurich and afterwards Frankfurt… Read More
And another difference is creating new habitats, which I think is totally different. Read More
Of course, at first, everything was new as the zoo director and I had to learn a lot of things. But the position was very interesting and I liked the position, as before the curatorial position, very much and I wouldn’t liked to have missed both curator nor director positions. Read More
What was the relationship between the American zoos and the European zoos?… Read More
I always think a network of communication and exchange of ideas is very important. And I’m an old-fashioned man so I think the direct contact and knowledge of colleagues helps very much in solving problems or getting exchanges or so on. And I always considered it as one of my… Read More
After a few years on the job as director of the zoo, did the glamor of the job wear off?… Read More
What was it generally like being the zoo director?… Read More