Absolutely never a dull moment. I mean, that’s, you hear, you know, you hear so much from, from young folks about jobs that are boring jobs that, you know, because so many young people want to be sort of on the move subject wise, they’re always looking for something new. Read More
Would you recommend the zoo and aquarium field to a young person with a sincere interest in wildlife and conservation today? And why would you?… Read More
Tolerance I think is probably the most important message that I will have got from other, other leadership tolerance and the, and the ability to deal with people at all levels. It almost nothing to do with the animal side of it. It all has, comes down to people in… Read More
So I do believe in, in having really, really good exhibits for elephants, I certainly believe that elephants should be in zoos, but they’ve got to be kept in not, not only the, the two dimensional large spaces, but also all the other aspects that you need to, you know,… Read More
What was the most important piece of advice that you received that has stayed with you throughout your career?… Read More
Given your experience, what is your view regarding zoos, maintaining elephants and how it should be done correctly?… Read More
Well, I’m, I’m not one of those who think that elephants should never be kept in zoos. I mean, you only, you only have to listen to that eight or 10-year-old looking at a good elephant exhibit. And I think we do have a good, a good one at North… Read More
Well, the one, the ones I’d be most impressed with have actually been all little ones, small zoos and particularly specialist ones. Places like the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum for example, or Karen Susman’s operating, know those sort, those sorts of operations. Not, not certainly, yes, of course some of… Read More
And why would that be and where are they?… Read More
Are you’ve seen many zoos throughout your career, are there any zoos in the world you particularly admire?… Read More
Well, here when at North Carolina, one of the things when I first went there was the idea of having a major interpretive center, both the conservation center combined with a, a, an interpretive center showing the globe, you know, broader global issues at a time when there was still… Read More
Are there any programs or exhibits you would’ve implemented during your tenure that didn’t happen?… Read More
Well, again, going back to London, I certainly would’ve, would’ve moved if we’d had the resources to have fewer, better exhibits at London and then pushed a lot of those resources into whips. That’s one thing here in North Carolina. I would, I’m trying to think, sorry, can you, can… Read More
Are there programs or, or exhibits that you would’ve implemented that during your tenure that didn’t happen?… Read More
Not a lot. That sounds a bit sort of arrogant, you know, it sounds as if, well, you know, everything I did was fine. It was a wonderful life. I wouldn’t change anything from a personal point of view and I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t have missed a moment of it. Read More
The temptation of that sort of, you know, rather, rather overrode the, what I would probably have done if I’d stayed at London. So that was, that was certainly one, you know, one regret. But I don’t, I don’t have any major, I, there are not many things that I… Read More
If you could go back in time, what, if anything, would you have done differently?… Read More
Well, I think one of the ways of getting or audiences outside the zoo world to really understand what the, what the zoo world is trying to do is for not just directors, but also senior staff members within the zoo community to find a way to get involved with… Read More
You’ve had a long and storied career. Read More
But even, you know, what I find go going around the state that even people that have never been to that zoo since childhood are very aware of it. And, and there is a sense of pride from what they hear that this is, this place is unusual and it’s… Read More