Oh! Well, the lack of money for, we just didn’t have money for capital improvements. And, Mark, when we… When the trust was formed, this was a big transition, because we went from one system, the city system, and getting a lot of work, help from the city to doing… Read More
Well, the question that kind of leads in is as you began to change direction of the zoo, what hindrances, what major hindrances occurred from what direction?… Read More
And I had him do that for every animal that we were breeding. Well, he wanted to work, he wanted to do that. But he also was doing his doctoral dissertation on digestion by rhinos and elephants. And it was kind of intruding on him if he needed to be… Read More
And I think I used to do some of that at Fort Worth before I had people. You get in the habit of something, and it’s hard to change it. But I changed it. I damn sure did. I’m sorry, I’ve… Oh no. Read More
What was the last thing you?… Read More
But I don’t want to hear about the problems in between. That’s their job is to solve those problems. It’s their job also to come to me if they can’t do it. And that’s my form of management. And I think the roadmap is very important. Read More
And sometimes, now, Tom, you ever heard of Tom Foos?… Read More
I hired Tom Foos, and he had terrible credentials, terrible credentials. At the Philadelphia Zoo, they, I’ll tell you what, they were very critical of him, and his wife for some reason. I always found his wife pretty nice. Tom Foos was a very difficult guy to work with. He… Read More
And how did you change, and develop their training and upgrading?… Read More
Well, in the first case, in a very interesting observation. We had, I think I had… At Oklahoma City, I would say, if you were to ask me what is my weakest management area, I would say it’s hiring people. It’s very strong in one area where people are committed,… Read More
But I had a very good staff there. And you were there when the accreditation was done. Several people said they were very impressed with the staff and their overall. But in three or four years, there can be changes. I don’t like to micromanage. I don’t wanna be micromanaged… Read More
Well, I think the planning was a big factor. I think we need to have, you know, you knew how to get here this morning. And you had a mental roadmap. Well, you had that gadget too. And if you hadn’t had that, you might not have known where, we… Read More
And I think if you have that roadmap, if the staff has it. More important, Mark, if the staff has participated in it. And sometimes, staff doesn’t want to participate. I mean they’re too busy doing something, and they don’t wanna, but it is very important to get them on… Read More
Speaking of staff, what was your relationship with the staff at Oklahoma City?… Read More
And I want to know about it. Those things will happen. In the best of zoos, you’ll have problems. But I want to know about them, ’cause I’m the one that’s gonna have to, either, not necessarily solve them, but bear the brunt of it. And communicate to the public,… Read More
What were some of your managing strategies?… Read More
As director, how would you describe your style of directing?… Read More
It’s changed. It has changed from… In Fort Worth, I, you know, grew up with that zoo, and built it, and was familiar with every little brick, and all that stuff. I think I had a pretty good. At first, I did a lot, which I needed to delegate, but… Read More
So we seem to be hitting a brick wall here. The breeding programs. Today, I mean, when they’re putting these intrauterine devices in animals, and they’re castrating males and all that, the breeding programs seem to have sort of tapered off, the importance of them. But there’s still an awful… Read More
That’s a hard question to answer. I’m not sure if I can answer that question. I think you’ve got to have the public. You can’t have a zoo without public support, in my opinion. So you have to work on public support. And if you don’t have it, I don’t… Read More