Well, it was very strange. A mutual colleague came and that was Terry Maple, who was a great fan of Heini Hediger. And in front of the restaurant, Heini told me, please call me Heini. He didn’t wait until we were in the restaurant and had a glass of red… Read More
Was it difficult for you to do that?… Read More
I think for me, it was not difficult to change from Professor Hediger to Heini. When- I felt very honored that he asked it and still feel honored by this. Read More
Is that a fair statement?… Read More
Well, I lost my father when I was 17 and I mentioned that Heini Hediger was my hero. And I remember exactly when he told me, please call me Heini and that was maybe a turning point for me. And it was really a relationship like a fatherly friend to… Read More
What were the circumstances when he said that to you?… Read More
I did my PhD on social behavior of colored peccaries and only in Zurich Zoo. And I discovered some quite interesting things. For example, there is an inhibition in inbreeding in the species, so the father isn’t mating with the daughters. Or the other thing is helpers. That the elder… Read More
So as a scientific assistant, you were working on your PhD. Yes, mainly. And Heini Hediger, he hold in winter a lecture at the university and in summer he usually had to repeat the lecture twice because there were over 150 students attending his lectures at the zoo. And here… Read More
Whatever the director wanted them to do?… Read More
I was scientific assistant of a department with a huge name. It was Animal Psychology Department of the University of Zurich at Zurich Zoo. And we have had, since Heini Hediger was such a famous zoo biologist, we have had a lot of famous animal psychologists visiting us and they… Read More
What kind of projects did you work on?… Read More
Whereas in Germany, the profession of zookeeper started with an official training just after World War II. It is a three-year training with a final examination. And it even is possible nowadays to do a further training as master keeper. So in Germany, it’s a long, long tradition of training… Read More
What did the scientific assistant do?… Read More
And you have some experience in the United States, where maybe they’re looked upon differently, the position of animal keeper. Read More
What’s it like in Europe?… Read More
You cannot say how the keeper position is in Europe. You have to separate from country to country. In Switzerland, we were only three recognized zoos, at that time. And so the market for zookeepers was very, very small. And so we didn’t have an official training but we accepted… Read More
Nothing happened. And it was easier to capture them in this small compartment than in the outside. The question I have about, you mentioned the keepers. Read More
In Zurich and maybe other European countries, is the keeper profession thought of more as something that’s passed on from father to son?… Read More
Is it more of a formal thing?… Read More
Or was there any situations where the public did something bad and you had to be part of it?… Read More