Interview 366 – Caption Index: 47
Well at that time?… Read More
Well at that time?… Read More
Heini Hediger, of course, was my hero up there. And he learned to know me more in detail in August 1959, when two kea parrots from New Zealand escaped. And at that time, kea parrots were a rarity. And we lured them back into their aviary with the help of… Read More
The keepers knew me very well. They called me with my first name and I called them with their family name. And I think I was accepted by the whole zoo staff, yes. Read More
And what was your relation with the director?… Read More
He hired you?… Read More
Did you interact with the staff as this part-time registrar?… Read More
At that time in Zurich Zoo, there was just one curator for the aquarium and terrarium. That was Rene Honecker, who was a very good friend of mine, and I worked in his office. So we had almost daily contact, not only at the zoo, but private as well. Read More
And because you had worked as the keeper before that, as a volunteer, did the keepers then know who you were and accept you?… Read More
At that time in Europe, the position of registrar didn’t exist, as the animal records were kept by the curators. Which in some ways I think it’s not too bad because the curators work daily with the animals, make a lot of personal observations that can be included into the… Read More
So you, what was the day like?… Read More
Did you interact with the curators?… Read More
And what was your first position?… Read More
My first position was, at that time, this name didn’t exist, but nowadays it’s a registrar. And Heini Hediger told me, I cannot pay you more than a cleaning woman. And he paid me, or Zurich Zoo paid me 50 Swiss francs a month. It was not the full-time position,… Read More
And were there many registrars around zoos in Europe or was this a unique position for Zurich?… Read More
So you were working at the zoo while you were pursuing your studies?… Read More
During my studies, I already worked at Zurich Zoo. I even worked rather more for Zurich Zoo than for my studies. So it took very long until I finished my PhD on the social behavior of colored peccaries. I finished it only in 1976. Read More
So when did you go from being a volunteer at the zoo to receiving money and being paid to work at the zoo?… Read More
Tell me about your schooling. You went to Heiden Grammar School. Read More
Then what?… Read More
Well, I visited school in Zurich and I was a very bad pupil, but I never had to repeat a class. You went to college. I went after finishing high school. I went to University of Zurich, where I studied zoology and I finished my study with a PhD under… Read More