And we posted a staff out there to watch about a week before we thought the fledge date was. And all of a sudden the bird just takes off and flies across the pond like it had been doing it, you know, forever. So it’s like, well, we worried about… Read More
And we were super nervous about this bird not making the night because of that cold rain. The good news about rains in Tampa in the fall, they rarely last very long, but they can come down pretty hard and cold. So I called a colleague and said help me… Read More
It’s gonna go into the water, what’s it gonna do?… Read More
We’re going, what’s gonna happen?… Read More
Their nests are like six feet across and three feet thick and they continually resupply the nest. And when the chick fledges, which is a long, it’s 122 days before it fledges. That’s a long time. Read More
And not a lot of data to go on. There was some very old publications that, unfortunately, were dated and weren’t giving us a lot of information. So again, we were flying a little bit by the seat of our pants. And we used stork data to help us out… Read More
Should we not touch it?… Read More
What should we do?… Read More
Wow, look, bottom line, we had two pairs that were close to one another in different habitats, and they were vocalizing back and forth, which I think was the biggest part of the stimulation. The pair that produced were in about an acre-and-a-half netted-in pond. That was, you know, pretty… Read More
And it was like such good news but then we were so nervous, should we touch it?… Read More
So yeah, I enjoy it. It’s a creative process that I think is just, is very enriching. Read More
We’ve talked about different animals now, what would you say was the secret in Tampa for the birth of the shoebill stork?… Read More
And there’s other people that can answer that question. I’m just, there’s where the door should be. Read More
You know, I get a little crazy when they want to do, so which way should the door swing?… Read More
You figure out how it should swing, you know?… Read More
And the other thing we’re learning, which I found very interesting, and both San Diego and Tampa participated in different studies about the amount of heat that we are bringing into these exhibits due to the gunite, the amount of radiated heat that comes off of that and what it… Read More
I think the other focus that I have is the behind-the-scenes housing and how we can improve those areas from basically concrete and steel to what else can we do to make it more comfortable for the animal?… Read More
‘Cause they spend, you know, good part of their day back there too. It’s their bedroom. So when it comes to Tampa, there’s few more hurdles because of hurricanes. We have to be careful what we’re building and how we’re building them. But the process I enjoy, I enjoy master… Read More
My philosophy, you know, I’m always looking for the more space, the better. I want to maximize space. And sometimes that’s a battle depending on the footprint of the particular part of the facility we’re working with. I love aesthetics and I think it’s fantastic to be able to frame… Read More
Can you talk about the philosophy you may have regarding exhibit design?… Read More