Well of course it was, I would say my main and longest period of work, curator of birds and mammals in Zurich Zoo for 20 years. And there are so many stories, especially after Heini Hediger, who was a very strong director and a very knowledgeable zoo biologist. His successor… Read More
These were the main breeding groups I built up to reach a self-sustainable breeding group. So this was very good. And it was a time full of work. At that time, the curators did all the import/export work and since we’ve have good breeding successes, we had to export, especially,… Read More
Now, how old were you when you were the curator of mammals and birds?… Read More
How old were you?… Read More
I was 31 when I became curator of mammals and birds, yes. Read More
Now, did you have to have permission to do this, or because you were on holiday, you could do what you wanted, from the Zurich Zoo?… Read More
Well, I haven’t had a treaty. With Heini Hediger, you never have had a treaty. It’s just by handshaking that you were appointed and so on. And I surely have asked Heini Hediger whether he thinks it’s okay that I replace the zoo director. But it was a very friendly… Read More
In 1967, when you were on a holiday replacement for the director of the Heidelberg Zoo, wasn’t that a little unusual?… Read More
Well, Heidelberg Zoo, at that time, was a very small German zoo. And his director kept and bred Mediterranean tortoises, and, therefore, we knew each other very well. And he was a very skeptical director. He didn’t want to have a replacement from his own organization. And so he asked… Read More
Whereas in Heidelberg, I really had to do everything and I really mean everything. It started that I lived on the zoo’s ground. By the way, the only time I ever lived on the zoo’s ground. I wouldn’t like to do it for a longer time. And it started that… Read More
So it was quite a different world than today, keeping a studbook. Read More
And were you, as a studbook keeper, were you instrumental in helping to pair animals, as they do today?… Read More
So studbook, of course, is just a registry of animals and the start of regional breeding programs was much later. So it was really not the recommendation for transfers. Read More
It was the time I was a registrar. And there was a reason to start an international step book. Because at that time, zoos still usually imported wild code specimens. And the reasoning for starting the studbook was to reach a self-sustaining population of vicunas that can act as ambassador… Read More
So did you have conversations with other studbook keepers to know what you wanted to try and do with this studbook?… Read More
Well, of course the first studbook was for the European bison. And I knew the legendary studbook keeper, Erna Mohr. And then the second studbook and model studbook for all later ones were the one for Przewalski horses, held by Jiri Volf in Prague Zoo. And I’ve had good contacts… Read More
Did you deal with the people in South America?… Read More
I haven’t had much contact or hardly no contact with South America because the vicuna was, at one time, in danger. And it was from millions of specimens in the ’50s. It was down to 10,000 in the ’60s. But at that time, we kept in Europe, just 40 vicunas,… Read More
Now, when you were doing this, this was under the time you were the curator or the registrar?… Read More
Why did you start it?… Read More