Yes, absolutely. And, and we always, oh, I mean I, going back, gosh, for over 40 years when I was at London, when I was director at London and, and when I was senior vet before becoming director at London, was very much the height of the anti zoo lobby,… Read More
Anyway, it, it’s a complicated, very complicated world. Read More
Did you find it important that you brought those people to your facility?… Read More
Well, very, I I, what I’ve found is within the zoo, well, and indeed within the biological community, generally a lot of people cannot differentiate between what animal welfare and animal rights. And what you have is a, is a sort of spectrum of views. I’m talking about views from… Read More
And you create a partnership, you, you build so much of what we’re talking about is to do with relationships you build a relationship with, with those people. And what you find is that if you’ve got those folks on side or at least understanding what you are all about,… Read More
Now you had mentioned financial, considering that financial resources to many small or medium zoos are limited, what would you think should be the focus of the collection of those types of zoos?… Read More
Can you give us your thoughts on how best to deal with these groups?… Read More
I still think that all zoos should have a broad mix of species. Now there’s a lot of emphasis today on keeping endangered species, and that’s certainly part of the portfolio, if you like, of any zoo that should have a focus on some species that need extra protection, let’s… Read More
A, a lot. A lot. And I think a lot of, a lot of these smaller zoos don’t realize often what they can do. I think there’s a sense of sense, well, you know, we are far too small, we haven’t got the money, but there’s several ways that they… Read More
So even, even if their resources are relatively meager. And the other, of course the other thing is that smaller zoos are some of the best institutions that dealing with local conservation issues. A lot of people when they talk about zoo conservation mean gorillas in Africa or wild dogs… Read More
Yeah, what Can they Do?… Read More
Whether it’s national or international?… Read More
What can a small or a medium-sized municipal zoo do today to be involved in wildlife conservation?… Read More
Absolutely, yeah. And, and there are additional ones as well. I think you, you know, most of us are dealing with boards, they’re dealing with some form of governance. And so it’s really critical that you understand that if whether you are, you know, city owned or in the case… Read More
So when you started and a new zoo director today, those are the things or other things that you would say you need in your skillset young man to be a zoo director today?… Read More
So a broad background, a personality which is tolerant of people and understanding of the way people tick and knowledge these days. Very much of fundraising, of marketing didn’t have to worry about that too much going back, you know, 50 years, 40, 50 years. But all of those skills… Read More
Well, first of all, a good background in one of the two main knowledge bases that you really need to be a zoo director. You either, you either need to have a good biological background and, and the reason for that is, of course, that you can participate sensibly in,… Read More
But in, in your opinion, what qualities did you have that you feel made you a good director?… Read More
What made you a good director?… Read More
Well, I grew up in a very rural area north of London. And in one of those sort of Georgian rectory, my father was a, an an andan priest with lots and lots of land woodland time when of course one could roam freely as a child. And my, all… Read More