(Elizabeth sighs) Elephants, no, we had elephants, we had worked, Ed Gould had hired Don Meyer at the National Zoo to work with the keepers in setting up an elephant program. And Don was from Milwaukee, so he was also the consultant at the Milwaukee County Zoo. Elephants are a… Read More
And did they stay long term at the zoo?… Read More
We had them long term. They had the visiting ones, I think, in ’84, ’85, and then we got them, I don’t remember what year, but we got them and they were there for several years at the Milwaukee Zoo. Read More
What was the elephant exhibit like at the Milwaukee Zoo and how did you feel about having elephants at the zoo?… Read More
No, koalas weren’t difficult to maintain. The biggest problem with koalas was that the, is eucalyptus is the only thing they eat. And you don’t grow eucalyptus in Milwaukee either. So we contracted with, oh, Bill Flo- Bob Frueh, yeah, Bob Frueh was wonderful. I loved working with Bob. And… Read More
Were they difficult to maintain?… Read More
If you couldn’t get, if there was an airline strike or, you know, you got your regular shipments and if you didn’t get your regular shipments, we’d come down and get some from Lincoln Park with their koalas. And I think that was finally, I mean, to provide the eucalyptus… Read More
Okay, yeah, so we had Golden monkeys for six, three months, or six months. Well, lemme digress quickly, ’cause you mentioned golden monkeys. You had been with the high profile pandas, rare animals in the United States. And now the Golden monkeys, rare primates, were at the Milwaukee Zoo. Read More
Did they make the kind of impression that the pandas had made?… Read More
Were the koalas as much of a headache as the pandas had been?… Read More
No, no, they didn’t. I mean, I’m sure they drew some people, but, I mean, they came with, they were cared for by the, Chinese people came with them. They were cared for by their regular caretakers and all the rest. I will say my panda experience probably helped get… Read More
And you were bringing, did you bring in the koalas or were they there?… Read More
Were they at any of the zoos here?… Read More
No, the koalas were brought in… They had visiting Koalas before I was there. The year I was there, they had golden monkeys. First year I was there, they had golden monkeys from China as a temporary exhibit. The golden monkeys were making the rounds. I think they went to… Read More
Speidel had a house on the zoo grounds and when Boese became director, he had to live on the zoo grounds. And Boese and Schulz said, well, you know, just pay $400 a month, well, people knew how much rent was for a three bedroom house in Milwaukee and Wauwatosa,… Read More
And the final thing was Dave Schulz was the county supervisor at the time. I mean, was the head of the county and, Boese, so the, and when Boese had applied to become director at the National Zoo, they were gonna pay him more than he was being made in… Read More
So I probably became curator of large mammals when Chuck was there. Read More
I’ve forgotten what the, Boese announced that he was leaving. He was going to become director of the Lowry Park Zoo in Florida. I should’ve brushed up on my history before I came here. And he and Lillian worked, oh yeah, I remember part of it. He and Lillian were… Read More
It was known in the museum community as the Wednesday afternoon massacre, because they were told that they had to start raising more money. And were not gonna get the, didn’t discuss this with the director or the assistant directors, and the two assistant directors resigned. The director of the… Read More
Okay, Boese was staying. The problems were that they were so linked together, Dr. Boese and Lillian, that he would leave Lillian in charge of the zoo if he left, and she was not a county employee. And as when accreditation became part of the, you know, zoos needed to… Read More