It may be the 10th often heard question is, how endangered are gorillas or so. So it’s rarely a visitor service. And at one point I was very keen and that was the reason I was previously always quite skeptical that these volunteers, of course, we train them a few… Read More
Is there any major events that affected a lot of zoos that stands out in your mind?… Read More
What kind of visitor services did you find when you came to the zoo and did you wanna make some changes in that direction for the visitors?… Read More
There was really no visitor service in Frankfurt Zoo when I arrived. This is not critics to my predecessors because in Europe, visitor services came fashionable only in the last 20 years or so, 30 years. Frankfurt Zoological Society and Frankfurt Zoo started volunteers under the name conservation ambassadors. But… Read More
When I welcomed new candidates, I always told them, the most often question will be, where are the next toilets?… Read More
I didn’t get- What do you think the public felt about the Frankfurt Zoo?… Read More
The people of Frankfurt thought they have the best zoo but I think I opened their eyes that that was outdated, this opinion. And I got a lot of very positive feedbacks when I started to rebuild the zoo. And they said, oh, wonderful new exhibits. You’ve changed a lot,… Read More
I already mentioned a lot of time, Heini Hediger. I just mentioned Bill Conway. Of course, in some ways, Bernhardt Grzimek made some impression on me, George Rapp as well. But for the daily work, probably the biggest influence has had Gunter Noge. We have had similar zoos. We became… Read More
So if I have had a problem, Gunter usually was the first. But there were other people, as Ollie Sherin, Rupert Dahl, or Dieter Yaul in Stuttgart and so on that I contacted when I’ve had questions. Read More
How do you think the public felt about the Frankfurt Zoo?… Read More
Who have made the biggest impression on you?… Read More
Maybe the most famous. Read More
Or how did they impact the zoo?… Read More
The top three zoos of the world?… Read More
Well, that you’ve enjoyed and that you would want to recommend. I think it’s unfair because I don’t say the best three zoos. I would say I would need at least 20 zoos or so. I recently visited, with my son, some Czech and Polish zoo and we discovered, for… Read More
Well, you have met a lot of people in your role as zoo director. Read More
Whereas in New York you need heated winter quarters. But then New York, as I admire Heini Hediger, I admire Bill Conway. I think he’s really wonderful, was really a wonderful zoo director and did a lot of good things. And one of the highlights for me is Congo Gorilla. Read More
Well, if you were gonna tell me to go to three zoos, what zoos would you tell me to go to?… Read More
No, I wasn’t an advisor. And during my Frankfurt time, I followed the tradition of Grzimek, who gave lectures at the University of Giessen and that is about 100 kilometers to the northeast of Frankfurt. But I didn’t feel that this is my work and that I can do it. Read More
Can you tell me possibly what zoos have you enjoyed visiting and learning from that you were able to maybe take ideas away and that have influenced you in your career?… Read More