I’m happy that I’m not WZA president. I think that the biggest problem, most zoo organizations, not only the global ones but the regional ones as well, there are some institutions that do not fulfill the standards but are members. Read More
And how to deal with these institutions?… Read More
How do we make that connection with teenagers to heighten their awareness of the natural world?… Read More
That’s a very difficult question. Or even the age class of about 35 to about 55 because in zoos, you’ll often hear, I haven’t been at the zoo for 20 years because my children are adults and my grandchildren are still too small. So in European zoos, a lot of… Read More
And there is, in Europe, and maybe in America too, I’m not sure. In Frankfurt, we have a lot of citizens coming from Turkey, for example. And the percentage of zoo visitors from Turkey, was much, much lower than the percentage in the population of Frankfurt. That’s another field where… Read More
Did you invite them to the zoo?… Read More
Did you try to make them feel special in any way?… Read More
I invited them again and again, and always told the press, all the press the same at the same time. But sometimes, and this I found very interesting, the press approached me, as zoo director, and they said oh, we have a half a page free. Could we have an… Read More
Did you try and cultivate the press, the media?… Read More
Did you give them special tours?… Read More
What can you tell me about the importance of marketing my zoo?… Read More
What are the most important things I should know about that?… Read More
Marketing is important, but I think some zoos exaggerate this. Frankfurt Zoo, for example, as a city zoo, has had a very small budget. And I can’t remember how much money I have had, maybe 30,000 or at the most 100,000 Euro per year. So it’s nothing compared to many… Read More
There are, of course, a lot of trials. One, for example, is feeding of giraffes, for example. In my mind, that’s the wrong way to go. We should respect the animals as they are and we should be able to observe their natural feeding and not to give tidbits at… Read More
I, with one exception, with exception of the filtration system in our seal cliffs. I never, ever went behind the scene with the visitors because we are building a natural-looking scene and therefore, we shouldn’t have the visitor view behind the scene. But it should be for them that’s a… Read More
And if the visitor shows interest, then he or she might show interest to pay for conservation as well. I’m a new zoo director. Read More
I think zoos are no islands. Zoos are part of our society. They must reflect the thinking of the society. But, at the same time, zoos must try to influence our society in the right direction. And exactly the same is true with a board or whatever authority, political superiors. Read More
We can not act against the society and against the politicians, against the boards. So we have to try to influence them in a kind way and to convince them that we need to do what we actually do. Read More
What can be done, and you’ve talked about it a little, but to make that visitor connection more meaningful in a zoo?… Read More
The Northern White Rhino became extinct in Garamba National Park in Congo about six years ago or so. And I think there’s still an old non-reproductive pair in San Diego Wild Animal Park and an old non-reproductive pair, or two non-reproductive females in the Czech Republic. And only two pairs… Read More