Interview 33485 – Caption Index: 115
I did a job recently for Dundee. They wanted a new gibbon enclosure. Read More
I did a job recently for Dundee. They wanted a new gibbon enclosure. Read More
I said, come on. You know, I said, tell me what to do. And anyway, they, they taught me how to catch crocodiles. There was one guy who was getting a bit cocky by the end of the day and giving me lots of instructions of, okay, right, you’re pushing… Read More
It’s time to you guys. So have a look at it, you know, have I, you know, have I missed something?… Read More
I said, well, I’ve, I’ve always been interested in zoo architecture, but I taught myself how to read a plan, how to alter it, how to use tracing paper to basically come up with something new, another be kind to the maintenance department. That’s absolutely crucial. When you want a… Read More
We had to catch up and move them. And I’d never caught a big crocodile before. And so the, there was a number of keepers at Singapore that had a lot of crocodile experience. And I said, right, okay, today I’m working for you. You have to tell me what… Read More
And it turns out, because of planning permission, we had to stay within the footprint. And so over a lunchtime, I changed the interior design. Read More
And the architect was like, how did you do that?… Read More
So they can’t make intelligent contribution to it. I mean, I did a job in Rome and we had a, a a, a zoo architect firm doing the new bear enclosure. And, and I wasn’t happy with, the exhibit was great, but the holding area was, I didn’t think it… Read More
And so, you know, I said, look, you know, can I need to change a few things?… Read More
I did a, I was asked to do a talk at, it was actually a keeper’s sort of three day workshop called Keeper Fest at a place called Jimmy’s Farm in Wildlife Park down in, in the south of England. Read More
And it was like, okay, right, okay, this is, this is right up my street. And so I basically, I came up with a list of, I think it was 16 key points. What it starts with is you have to have been a zookeeper. You, you, you ha you… Read More
And they asked me, I said, look, can you do a talk about what it takes to be a, a good curator?… Read More
Oh, you should go to the Highland Wildlife Park. It’s brilliant. You know, they’ve got tigers and polar bears and, you know, and huge enclosures. It looks fantastic. And so we were able to completely change the, the, the significance of the collection, both in the eyes of the, the… Read More
Now you’ve been in this position many times, what would you include in a training program for curators?… Read More
We have a spare day, what do you reckon we do?… Read More
We got to the point when people are staying at small hotels, right?… Read More
You go to, I mean, there seems to be a lot of zoos these days that have lost faith in their, in the, in what they do. And so they now have to have animatronic dinosaurs and Lego sculptures and various other non-animal aspects to their operation be that, as,… Read More
We made sure we had a, a fluffy news story every month and a serious news story every month. And this was during the worst financial recession since the Great Depression. So basically from 2008 when I started and when I left, we had more than doubled the attendance level… Read More
Great zoo must compete with other cultural institutions. Read More
What do you think there is their strong point and how do they sell it?… Read More