I mean everybody’s an individual. Each person’s an individual, each zoo’s an individual. And you got your own things you have to deal with. Whether it’s budgets or people or politics. You do what you can with what you got and make it work. Read More
Again, some zoos can afford it, Some zoos can’t afford the dollars, but there can be other things that they can do. You know, people can, like in fundraising they say you can give, get, or get off. You know, if you’re on the board and trying to do something. Read More
Is the conservation issue so big that it might be an unreasonable request to ask of zoos?… Read More
Yes I am. (laughs) Yes I am. Many zoos seem to be giving lip service to using money for conservation purposes. Read More
It was new enough when I got involved with it that it was still developing. So 15 years ago, it’s changed a lot now. And quite honestly I haven’t kept up with what they’re putting in line now. As far as who they keep and who they don’t keep. I… Read More
You’re talking about people personnel?… Read More
On staff they were. The park district wasn’t as involved with, but as long as it fit within our budget, you know, that was their concern of how we fit it in. It worked, and then they were involved with it. They bought onto it when we went through the… Read More
Did everyone buy into the program?… Read More
To decide what animal species are gonna be part of the program met with what you were envisioning?… Read More
And was it hard to implement at your zoo?… Read More
We were. Yep. Read More
When you were director, was the zoo part of the species survival plan?… Read More
Do you think that zoo education has made any headway in educating the public in the differences between the wellbeing of a creature individual and the survival of a species?… Read More
I think so. I hope so. Yeah, I do. I think people are more accepting and maybe it’s because there’s just so much more out there with media coverage. That people are seeing bigger pieces. It’s not just this individual animal. Although I mean there’s gonna be a few. On… Read More
But I think in the big picture, as people grow, they understand there’s more to it than the individual. Read More
We did not. Read More
We did not ’cause honestly, we just weren’t that big yet. We weren’t that involved in offsite that we could support anything like that. You know, ’cause you would think you would want to go to each other’s places and then share animals and do… We just hadn’t gotten to… Read More
As far as a sister zoo, you mean more like something in a different country?… Read More
They were very focused on home base. You know, they wanted to improve here. We hadn’t gotten them into that next level yet. Which I think should have or will be coming along because of what we did build with the new part. It’s a process. Read More
And do you think that’s important?… Read More