Interview 366 – Caption Index: 25
When did you realize that you wanted to do this as a lifelong career?… Read More
When did you realize that you wanted to do this as a lifelong career?… Read More
For me, it was clear from small infancy that I wanted to be involved in zoos. But after finishing high school, I thought I have to be sure that this is a right choice. So I thought about architect, but a fellow pupil told me there are enough bad architects. Read More
And what was, now, what was your schooling like?… Read More
Well Zurich Zoo was founded in 1929 and until the year of 1954, it was not under real professional guidance. But in ’54 professor Heini Hediger became director. We might come back to his name afterwards. And he transformed the zoo into a much better place. Replacing old cages with… Read More
Well, usually work as a volunteer keeper is just to follow the main keeper. And he gives you different works, prepare food or clean enclosures. But since I’ve worked so often in Zurich Zoo, I finally got sometimes the responsibility for the monkey or the terrarium department. Read More
What was the zoo like when you first started?… Read More
What kind of zoo was it?… Read More
I was allowed to start volunteer work when I was 16. And so I worked as volunteer keeper almost every holidays between the age of 16 and 19. Read More
So as a volunteer, your responsibilities were the same as an animal keeper or different?… Read More
When I reached the age of 16, I was allowed to work as a volunteer keeper in Zurich Zoo. And I started in the monkey house and later on, went to the terrarium. And since I’ve worked every high school holidays in Zurich Zoo. Finally I was able to do… Read More
How old were you?… Read More
Were you 16 then, when you were doing this volunteer work?… Read More
But did you volunteer for the zoo?… Read More
No, I not even got the reprint from the first describer. Read More
And when you got this job at the pet shop, was this your first exposure to be working and being with animals?… Read More
Yes, the pet shop was the first exposure to animals, but one job I didn’t like because it was just selling fishes and birds, and so on, But I couldn’t go to the zoo, working in the zoo before my age of 16. And so, therefore, I first went to… Read More
What did they think about that?… Read More
I got total freedom from my parents in the selection of my profession. Now, early on in 1956, when you were 13-years-old, you had made a discovery, blue neon tetra fish. In my childhood, I worked in a pet shop in Zurich, and I found a new neon tetra. I… Read More
Did they name it after you?… Read More
So your parents knew you had an interest in animals at an early age?… Read More