I, I think everybody had some sense of it. I wouldn’t say a hundred percent, you know, because maybe they didn’t really care. It was just a job, particularly as you said, when you get to concession workers and stuff. But no, I think most people do. It was posted… Read More
Did people lower than your senior staff understand the mission, the keepers and even the concession people?… Read More
Everybody understood their role in the plan because everybody had a job, not in a job description, but a yearly plan that fit that mission and those goals of our plan. And I think, and then that of course with maybe a good sense of humor and tenacity to get… Read More
My ego, I guess. I don’t know. You know, I, I actually said, I wrote it for my grandkids just so they would not, and by the way, they have absolutely no interest in it. But, so I wrote it and I sell, it was a self-published book. It’s not… Read More
Hmm. It’s an interesting question. I, I don’t know that I was a good zoo director, but I, you know, I, I would guess that one is my passion for saving wildlife and wild places and doing that through work, the work in the zoo. I also think I was… Read More
What do you think made you a good zoo director?… Read More
But again, resource management have great education programs. So you gotta have all those things to, for me to be a great zoo. So when I see these lists, nobody has the same list, by the way I said a lot of people have the, some of the same zoos… Read More
They have to have good safety. You don’t really see the safety procedure. But all those things make great zoo, a great zoo that doesn’t have a really high end conservation program. I mean, field conservation program, I’m not interested in as, as a great zoo. So it’s not just… Read More
So in your long career, what prompted you to write a book about your life in the zoo? Profession?… Read More
Hmm. Now that’s a very good question. I would just look at the a CA criteria. So a great zoo would have all, would be very good at all that great animal care, good veterinary department. When I rate zoos, I’m not doing it for life for a magazine or… Read More
So I got a couple more countries. So that was kind of fun too. And it was a small cruise, I mean small by, by standards now it was like 400 or 500 people. So it was a huge, huge cruise ship. Read More
You’ve said that there are many good zoos, but what makes a good zoo, in your opinion, a great zoo?… Read More
I just, I, I knew people that had did it, so I just applied. I found out there was a company that provides lectures to a couple of cruise lines and I just applied for them. And there was one that fit my expertise went from Costa Rica to San… Read More
How did that happen?… Read More
So, you know, I like to go to zoos. I like to see different things. So not just to get ideas from my zoo, although I do, you know, I’ve done all these accreditation inspections and I always say that I get more, particularly when it’s working, not now, but… Read More
I thought, well why not do that if it makes money?… Read More
So I put a gift shop in the wolf wilderness. I put one up in the cat and primate building and put one in Australia and they’re all gone now. I think it’s just the cost of staff. So they have a gift shop at the entrance and I think… Read More
Well certainly with Exhibitry seeing the good exhibits that tell, again, I’m a big believer in telling a story, not just having a wolf exhibit. These are wolfs. So our wolf exhibit, you go through a log cabin and we have a story about how trappers had it and turned… Read More
How has this helped to shape your philosophy in any way?… Read More
Do you feel that zoo guide books and and the zoom maps and things are just a thing of the past?… Read More