You ask whether I think that this is the end of it. I think it’s just the beginning. These were two huge, two huge accomplishments for animal rights activists, largely as a result of disgruntled employees and insider information that may or may not be true as we’ve said before. Read More
Has this, was this a good response to elephant conservation in your opinion?… Read More
I viewed the burning of ivory with mixed emotions. I understand why it’s done. It’s done to make a very dramatic statement. It’s done to demonstrate primarily to poachers and those who buy poacher materials, that there is no hope for the future of ivory. But then I look at… Read More
Do you think that there are these, there are additional things, that they will be attacking zoos for and what’s the philosophy of a zoo then?… Read More
Or do you think they’ve just picked certain species and we’ll end it at that?… Read More
No, I think that, I think elephants, elephants were the first cause chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, killer whales were second, killer whales, probably with some good reason if you understand anything about where they came from and what happens to the group once they’re taken out of nature, it… Read More
As someone who grew up with elephants in circuses, both as a spectator and a behind the scenes up close to elephants, I think it’s an American tragedy that Ringling Brothers has taken the elephants off of the circuit. I think it’s a tragedy because people who ordinarily wouldn’t ever… Read More
I think it’s a tragedy. And I think it’s one that we will, some of us will regret that we didn’t take a stronger stand for the exhibition of elephants and the use of elephants in demonstrations like that. Animal rights groups have been against killer whales, have been very… Read More
They have to be viewed as living documents. They’re subject to change, they’re subject to availability. They’re subject to the vagaries of animal availabilities. They’re subject to changing values and changing more it says as evidenced, both by elephants and by killer whales. And you said elephants to other questions,… Read More
Is there any benefits to having such shows?… Read More
Do you have any feelings about it from the conservation or from an education point of view?… Read More
The expenses related to elephants, at all levels, but particularly the amount of space and equipment and design that goes into it, first of all, to allow them to have adequate space and to allow adequate stimulus, it’s justified if the institution and its deciding board have said, this is… Read More
What’s the positives and negatives of the collection plan?… Read More
Well, a collection plan essentially gets buy in from the institution that this is the direction that we’re going to go with our collection. We’re going to have birds, mammals, reptiles, and all of those birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians. There’s going to be representatives of whatever the examples turn out… Read More
Or what do you think the response should be?… Read More
Those sorts of things, to get some feel for the individuals. And as long as we’re talking about the curatorial level, we have to also talk about the veterinary aspect. And the same is true with zoo vets. There are a lot of zoo vets around, a huge number of… Read More
I think the idea of consolidating elephant members into small groups or into family groups and having zoos specialize in that species, I think that’s a really good idea. It enriches the animal’s lives. It puts the focus to those institutions that can afford to do that. It exhibits the… Read More
And in all honesty, in all honesty I would have, and a lot of other people would have, a great deal of difficulty identifying six, let alone more, individuals in the profession in that age group, who had the same kinds of skills, the skill sets that were present in… Read More
So if you’re interviewing an individual for curatorial position, what three things would you wanna see in that person, man or woman?… Read More
You look at their academics, you look at their past experience, you look at where their interests are. You look at what they’ve done outside of the zoo world. Read More