Zoo? I mean, if you just ask a child or ask, ask a parent in the community, of course, you know, the list is they want elephants and they want lions and all the typical megavertebrates. Okay, well though that’s important to hear, but you also have to do more… Read More
Is it North American? Is it the western hemisphere?… Read More
So for a medium size zoo with limited financial resources available to them, what do you think should be the focus of the collection?… Read More
It’s, you know, all you have to do is commit three weeks of an employee’s time and their, their travel budget and send them out. It’s not that much money anymore. Okay. It, so it’s very easy to be involved in international conservation. It’s very, very easy. Especially like I… Read More
So, so we’ve done all kinds of conservation work, South Africa with giraffe. And you just, you just have to make that commitment to do it. And, and carve out a little bit of your budget too. It doesn’t have to be that expensive, especially if you collaborate with other… Read More
It was very much a seasonal zoo, as many zoos that were the children’s zoo time built in the fifties and sixties. Okay. So it’s, it’s a medium-sized zoo. And you know, I think being involved in conservation is, is really easy for an institution. Once you really put your… Read More
What projects are they interested in?… Read More
You know, what species are, are, are, are you targeting in, you know, in, in your zoo. You know, the Lincoln Children’s Zoo is known for its machi tree, kangaroo reproduction. We’re the leading zoo in the, in the world as far as machi tree kangaroo reproduction and documenting development… Read More
And once you do, what, what can a small or medium sized municipal zoo or private zoo do today to be involved in wildlife conservation, either nationally or internationally?… Read More
Well, I, I think the Lincoln Children’s Zoo is probably a medium sized zoo now. It’s pushing a $10 million year operating budget. It’s, it’s 18 acres in size. Millions and millions and millions of dollars have gone into rebuilding it, remodeling it, updating it, and upgrading it. And so… Read More
How would you categorize Lincoln Children’s Zoo?… Read More
I’m going public environmental affairs with the major and policy administration with a minor in accounting. Okay. I’m not a zoologist, I’m not a biologist. I am not a scientist at all. But I think that that academic background helped me out greatly. There are small zoos, medium zoos, and… Read More
You need to be a collaborator, a partner. You need to be a great listener. You need to really work aggressively with your community to, to, to build it, to, to, to make that mission a success and to, and to make that institution a success. So, you know, my… Read More
And people go, well, what’s your degrees in John?… Read More
It, it really, really is. Read More
What kind of skillset do you think a zoo director needs today as compared to when you started?… Read More
When I started, you needed to be an animal guy. You know, you needed to be an animal professional because the complexities of animal collections, and they, they haven’t lost their complexity, but how zoos, especially the zoo, Lincoln Children’s Zoo is a completely private zoo receiving no tax dollars,… Read More
They, I I think they, they all knew it. You know, that’s kind of hard when the person’s selling snow cones. Okay. But because we talk so much about the mission, the mission was stated, you know, in our break rooms and, you know, behind the scenes area for all… Read More
I mean, they knew that we were there to serve, to connect, to make great things happen in Lincoln, Nebraska. Read More
Do you feel that you were able to convey to everyone what the mission was? Did they all know it?… Read More