I think they need to look in their backyard. And I think every zoo should do this large, small, what have you. And there are opportunities out there for… Well, for saving or retarding the inexorable march of development, of industrial development, of pollution, of all those terrible things. And… Read More
We’ve used so many pounds of pesticides and fertilizers that’s gone down into the water table and all. Really, our wildlife is I think in a terrible state. And I don’t think it’s gonna get any better. It will in pockets, but, I think it’s in trouble, I think it’s… Read More
Sure, right now, herpetology has taken, or not herpetology, herpaculture has taken a strange direction where they’ve done great at breeding reptiles, that is a plus. I think the herpetologists may have done better at raising their animals than the aviculturists, except for some common species, and then some mammals. Read More
Then somebody else gets a reticulated python without the retics, or something, then that’s becomes the fad. We’ve had our fads in zoos, really. But this is one in herpeculture. It is not really herpetological. The genetics are not, they’re not really being studied. It’s trial and error. There are… Read More
But in your opinion, what can a small, or medium sized municipal zoo do today to get involved in wildlife conservation nationally or internationally?… Read More
I never got an animal in my zoo that I didn’t know everything that was possible to know about that animal based on the literature available, and based on watching it. Now, you are, and you have had a big love of herpetology. Yes. Read More
Compared to when I started? Well. Many zoo directors do not have a good training in the arts, and sciences, and even in zoology. Somehow, at least the ones I’ve spoken to don’t demonstrate that to me. And I, maybe they just, maybe I’m missing it. Maybe I’ve talked to… Read More
Any recommendations or words of advice for the next generation of herpetologists?… Read More
What skillset qualities does a zoo director need today as compared to when you started?… Read More
So they don’t have to say, “Oh god, now we have to listen to this lecture.” You don’t want that, and zoos can do that. People love zoos, they really, they even love bad zoos. They’ve loved bad zoos for years, and there’s a lot of them still out there. Read More
What made you a good zoo director?… Read More
I’ve worked hard. I really worked hard at school. I worked hard in the field doing the field work I did in herpetology. I haven’t told you about my red wolf. I think I caught the last red wolf in Texas, the last survivor. And it died from something, dog,… Read More
What made me, well, assuming that you’re right, that I was a good zoo director. I think I was willing to take risks. I was willing to do things differently, not be caught in the rut. I think I did have some good ideas. I think I still have some,… Read More
Yeah, it’s a common thing in an aquarium. Electric eels, we had a exhibit of electric fishes, eels, ghost fish, catfish. And we would demonstrate that, tickle them, and had them hooked up to the loud speakers and all of that. And we had enough so we could rest them… Read More
Have you ever seen it?… Read More
And what zoos offer is the real thing. If they can touch it, that’s good. I think we need to have as many touchies and feelies, and as many educational things, where the animal does something on its own that it’s specific or significant to its behavior. I really like… Read More
And those archer fish would just spend 20, 30 minutes shooting it down. People were spellbound. I was the first time I saw it. Read More
And what can we do to correct the problem in your opinion?… Read More
I think the biggest problem facing US zoos today is we’re running out of wild animals. I mean, today we’ve got, you’ve got a coyote over there, our coydog. But the the wild creature, the space is just, they’re just doomed, they’re doomed. Maybe it’ll take 100 years. Tigers are… Read More
We’re gonna be preserving them. We’re gonna be preserving a small population of them, scattered around the world, and that’s gonna be there. And people will enjoy it. I think there is, you know, one thing that’s happened in the last 20 years, this amount of natural history photography, it’s… Read More