Interview 21409 – Caption Index: 454
Does that make any sense to anybody?… Read More
Does that make any sense to anybody?… Read More
How much do they weigh?… Read More
And so it’s really, you have to kind of pick your fights. I, for one, have gone up against media many times about different issues and just been very straightforward and blunt with them. One time I had a reporter say something so idiotic to me, I said, “Have you… Read More
And I’m all, I was always very protective of the zoo, so I would always want to, and I’m a big mouth, so I would always want to address it, right?… Read More
But our PR people taught me that you need to pick your fight, because what you do sometimes, when you address that letter to the editor or you address that little story in the paper, when you address it, then it gives it what they call legs. So now you’ve… Read More
“Zoos are bad for animals, we beat our elephants.” Who beats an elephant for God’s sakes?… Read More
Well, it’s interesting because I frequently had disagreements, strong, great arguments, or discussions with our PR people at the zoo. Because I would want to address a certain attack we got or something, letter to the editor or something, and they’d go, no, no, no, just let it go or… Read More
Pick your fights and be aware of the, what’s the word for it?… Read More
Be aware of the fallout from them. Fallout. Be aware of the fallout from them that might happen that you unintentionally brought on board. So, we would get a letter to the editor, and I’m one that always wants to set the record straight. Read More
Sadly, we have people in top positions in our field who seem in line with what these non-biologists have to say. Read More
Can you give us your thoughts on how best to deal with these groups?… Read More
Oh, any zoo of any size can be involved in conservation these days. And then in fact, we need ’em all. If we’re gonna have a chance at saving the animals in the world, we’ve got to have everybody involved. Little zoo, big zoo, every possible way that we can… Read More
And support can be sending staff over to help on a certain project, it can be sending money, money’s always good, but sending funds can also be involved. You can also have long-term commitments. You might not have a whole lot of money that you could raise. Maybe it’s only… Read More
There was two zoos that were state, but most of ’em, city, county. And then that’s flip flopped now over the years to where there are more private zoos than there are governmental zoos. And so you have to be able to fundraise to a large extent, because there are… Read More
The other thing that wasn’t prevalent, and I mentioned it wasn’t prevalent when I started, was marketing and PR knowledge. But that’s become incredibly important, especially as we look at buffering the animal rights propaganda and all of those types of things, and the attack that zoos are getting now,… Read More
But what can a small or medium-sized municipal zoo do today to be involved in wildlife conservation nationally or internationally?… Read More
Well, I think that the zoo directors today need to be able to, you’re really multitasking all the time, every single day, every moment of the day. Read More
And so you have to have, when I started and we were the city zoo, the majority of zoos were either city or municipal zoos, city, county, or state zoos, right?… Read More
You have to be able to look at a flat plane of land and see that new exhibit. You have to be able to look at this animal and believe that you can develop and see this conservation program that you’re gonna be able to develop. You have to be… Read More
You need to be able to talk to everybody at every level. I talk to the custodians, the laborers, the keepers, the curators, the donors, my board, all the same. For better or worse, all the same. And so I think to be able to, and the press and the… Read More