And they said, it doesn’t work, two German-speaking men. You have to have one German-speaking, one French-speaking, and you have to have one man and one woman. And so we tried to select a French-speaking lady and we finally succeeded. And I think this commission is very important. Probably not… Read More
And with this, they want to make it difficult to keep certain species, for example, elephants and polar bears. So I think this commission is really important for the zoos. And I was president of this commission when we have had excellent relationship. The secretary, who was a vocal person… Read More
Was this a position you were paid for?… Read More
There is a commission in Switzerland responsible for sizes and for the minimum cage requirement of I think about 12 people or so. And in ’92, two of the persons resigned and I was selected as a replacement and another man. And it shows the specific difficulties of Switzerland. Originally… Read More
And so as the secretary approached the Swiss government, what’s wrong?… Read More
How important is the group?… Read More
What’s the mission?… Read More
Why are you in it?… Read More
What were the challenges when you were doing the master plan?… Read More
Well, the master plan in Frankfurt was a very difficult one because I was hired in Frankfurt Zoo to start a county zoo of over 60 hectares. But after moving to Frankfurt, it was very clear to me that Frankfurt is not yet ready for this county zoo, especially there’s… Read More
Frankfurt Zoo survives without elephants and therefore these animals had to be retained until the county zoo opens and this was a difficulty in Frankfurt. In 1992, you were President of the Federal Commission on Species Conservation. Read More
But afterwards, with the architect, you cannot have such a large team. So it usually was with the architect, just the director and the assistant director. Read More
And how long do you think, ideally, the master plan should be in effect?… Read More
Well, the reality is that usually a master plan lasts as long as the director is director and the new director starts a new master plan. That’s, unfortunately, the reality. But I think a master plan should last for about 20 years, probably with checking it after about 10 years… Read More
And can you explain about a master plan?… Read More
Well, the master planning in Zurich was done under the directorship of Alex Ruble. And in Frankfurt, I did, I was a head of the team for the master plan. And by the way, I think it was the first zoo master plan in any German zoo in Frankfurt. I… Read More
And then that’s probably the most important part, that you guide the architect and you tell the architect what is needed. I think Sean de la Croix, who’s a famous agriculturist once said the most dangerous animal in the zoo is an architect. And therefore architects either need to have… Read More
And when you were doing this master plan, number one, who was the director then, when this master plan was initiated?… Read More
First you look for what species do you have in the collection already?… Read More
What species need new exhibits, better exhibits?… Read More