I didn’t, I didn’t have one, one piece of advice. I think, you know, my, my, my people like Bill Barnett or Conway that were mentors didn’t give me advice. They, they, they, it was by example. You just watch what they did. And, and you can’t be somebody else. Read More
What was the most important piece of advice you received that has stayed with you throughout your career?… Read More
But again, in a perfect world, elephants are difficult, just like killer whales. You know, we should, we shouldn’t have ’em in captivity, but we have to have ’em in order to draw our attention to, to, so, so if we have ’em do it right. I think you may… Read More
Well then that, that, that, that’s like trying to mind read for, it’d be a fortune tell for elephants. I I think that having elephants in the history is abominable what happens in, in this country, the way elephants were treated. And it’s just, you know, in the last 20… Read More
But I, I think the elephants in good facilities in this country, especially the bigger ones that, you know, that Omaha and Cedgwick County, and d and Dallas brought some elephants in that was very controversial. But all those elephants are thriving in captive situations, in big exhibits. San Diego… Read More
You know, I think you would, they would they rather be in the wild?… Read More
Well, you know, we talked about animals earning their keep. Ideally, elephants don’t belong in zoos, but if we didn’t have ’em in zoos, I don’t think people would have the same compassion for saving them in the wild. So there are good exhibits much. And that, that’s where space… Read More
I don’t know what the number is now with a ZA, but it’s, it’s, you know, hundreds of million dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars a year now to conservation just from the 240 zoos and aquariums. And the aquariums is, you got shed and you got the Georgia Aquarium… Read More
In your opinion, your professional opinion, what’s your view regarding zoos, maintaining elephants, and how should it be done correctly?… Read More
It’s a Belgian zoo. And, and it’s a, it’s a private owner and he just put all his money into it. It’s, it’s, it’s a enormous put, we stayed in a room that the window was looking into the bear exhibit, and the bears was sleeping right outside our, our… Read More
And then there’s, you know, there, there’s some small, a lot of good small zoos too. But again, the mentality is you should always be, you know, you’re, you’re, you’re never the number one, you always want to be better. You know, like that rental car thing, you always, that… Read More
The Minnesota Zoo is really a good zoo. Chicago has two good zoos. And, and there are different structures. Totally. Which is, which is interesting. I don’t have to lecture you about the zoos in Chicago, but I think the Brookfield Zoo now, now they, they got a good director… Read More
They’re dynamic. They’re, they’re innovative. They, they’re always pushing the envelope. And then in South America, they’re, they’re not, they’re not a Singapore, but the Ali Zoo that we were at, there’s a zoo outside of Bo, not the Buenos Air Zoo, but outside of Buenos Air Time Aiken, these… Read More
When I analyze a zoo, I analyze leadership, the quality of the keeper staff and the behind the scenes. I don’t analyze it by attendance and budget and, and, and marketing campaigns, you know, totally different. And when I do it that way, it changes because the zoos change. But… Read More
Are there any that say to that, you go, these are good zeuss, but why do you say that?… Read More
And, and where are they?… Read More
So it never happened. So I got, I got a man named Bill Barnett who was, he was the managing partner of Baker bots of biggest law firm in Houston at the time, but also the chairman of the Rice University board. Bill was unbelievable. People couldn’t believe, first of… Read More
He did it for, he, he just passed away. And he was, he was my mentor. He was a good man. Mm, sorry. That’s okay. Did he give you some good sage advice that, that stayed with You Always take the high road no matter what the audience is. I… Read More
So they, they let me form a task force. They said, you have to lead the task force. I had advice from another board member saying, Rick, don’t lead the task force. You’re new to this community. You gotta have somebody that’s born on the plantation, is what he said. Read More
This is the year 2000, right?… Read More