You just flip the ear open, put some, you know, have the hose going with warm water, that vein stands out and you can draw a blood sample. I mean, anybody can do that. Doesn’t have to be somebody who’s skilled. The keepers could do it, and did it. And… Read More
We worked with the Springfield Zoo that did have a bull elephant, that they used to collect semen from, and they agreed. We would know the week that the elephant was gonna cycle and we’d say, “We don’t know what day, but we know it’s gonna be this week.” And,… Read More
What would you say are some of the most dramatic or important changes you’ve witnessed in animal management?… Read More
Well, I think that’s a good question, because you know, it is of course, an animal that does require a lot of input. It’s expensive to keep them. You got a large area that you have to have. You know it’s, today again, you know, there was a lot of… Read More
What’s your view regarding the hot topic of zoos maintaining elephants in their collection?… Read More
You didn’t go in with a lot of stuff, but you went in with the elephants all the time. And it’s such a big animal that it just, you know, even accidentally you get hurt by getting in their way. And so I think the movement to protected contact is… Read More
What are, in your opinion?… Read More
Well they usually, in say a fairly good-size zoo, they’re not the ones day to day taking care of the animals. The keepers are doing that, so they gotta be able to take care of the keepers. They’ve got to be the, and there they need to be good people… Read More
What would be the three top qualities in a curator, or that a curator should have today?… Read More
We also had a program that we allowed our staff if they chose to, they wanted to improve themselves educationally, to participate in things. We would help pay their tuition, or what have you. They had to get at least average grades. They couldn’t be failing. But you know, that… Read More
I guess I’ve never heard that complaint that much, because we always had people coming up in our ranks. You know, we didn’t always hire from within. If there was an opening, if a curator left, we had a number of curators and you know, and staff who went to… Read More
How should curators be trained today to do what is expected of them?… Read More
Do you believe that’s true, what’s the problem?… Read More
Well I think it, you know, I think they want to be involved and would be involved. I think if anything, it’s a budgetary restriction that would cause them to not be involved. Because if you, you know, you have to have the budget to be able to take care… Read More
Should every zoo strive to have a breeding program?… Read More
Not necessarily. You know, if you have endangered species, or species that need to be reproduced, and a breeding program of that, then yes. But if you have, there’s some zoos that may be just for display. Some common zebras are different than Grevy zebras, that would be endangered. But… Read More
Do you believe, what can a small or a medium-size municipal zoo do today to be involved in wildlife conservation nationally or even internationally?… Read More
The people were all, it was no problem if you had an animal, “Oh well, this animal’s gonna have to be watched, you know, all night long.” Oh everybody, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” You know, everybody was really dedicated. I don’t know whether that was just because it… Read More
And, “Well, can somebody else do that instead, and give you the part that you do like to do?” We did that a lot with the maintenance people. In the keepers areas, you know, it was a matter of, well you know, there were different duties if you were an… Read More
I mean, I remember some of the staff that, well, they didn’t like what they had to do, you know?… Read More