I guess I would say that, I was very proud of the way that the zoo responded to me and how I responded to them. And I’m talking about the employees and that, because when I got into it, it was really new. Zoos didn’t have veterinarians, and there were… Read More
So if you could make the choice, what issues would you like to see zoos address in the future?… Read More
Well, I think education is key to everything, and changing people’s attitudes. And I think zoos already do that, and need to continue to do that, and make them aware of what is the plight of endangered species. And there’s several things involved that are beyond what a zoo can… Read More
No, you don’t think they’ll look differently, or will they be more like White Oak, or less like, you know?… Read More
Well, it’s kinda interesting, you know?… Read More
The St. Louis Zoo at this point has acquired a parcel of property. I forget whether it’s three, 400 acres, that they’re going to be developing. You know, and a lot of other zoos have gotten breeding farms or whatever, some of them. San Diego with the Wild Animal Park… Read More
What should zoos be doing to prepare for the future?… Read More
Any thoughts as to what zoos will look like in the future?… Read More
I think they’ll be much more naturalistic-looking facilities. I think that there will be, I would hope that they would be able to acquire more property and not be real small institutions. I don’t know how they might look differently. Read More
Okay, when you were that young zoo veterinarian, we may have touched on it, but when you were that young zoo veterinarian and you came up, who were you calling to say, “Oh, I’ve never,” other zoo veterinarians or other veterinarians that weren’t in the zoo business?… Read More
No, mostly other zoo veterinarians because somebody that wasn’t in the zoo business wouldn’t have the answer to it for me. I mean, now if it was a particular thing, I knew what it was, you know then, you know, if it’s something involving reproduction, I might be talking to… Read More
We don’t have to, we’re gonna ship this animal to another zoo, but we don’t necessarily have to to anesthetize it to do that.” You can, you know, get it to be trained to go into a crate pretty easily. It’s gonna take a while but, so there are other… Read More
Got any advice for me?… Read More
(laughing) Yeah, I’d say go make sure you’re going to a zoo that has another veterinarian that you can learn from. Don’t do what I did, get there and have now nobody else to talk to about it. Read More
What issues caused you the most concern during your career, and how do you see the future regarding these concerns?… Read More
Well, initially I think funding was a concern. We did deal with that, and I mean, fortunately the St. Louis Zoo now is well funded, including endowments and things, on various activities of the zoo. So funding, I think could be an issue in some institutions. You know knowledge of… Read More
I think sometimes you needed to step back and say, “Well wait a minute, isn’t there another way of doing it?… Read More
How do you respond to that?… Read More
Well, I guess like I said before, people come to be entertained, but I think a zoo changes people’s attitudes towards animals. More so than than seeing it on TV, or seeing a movie. That’s helpful also, certainly to see, you know, to see things like “Wild Kingdom” type of… Read More
Oh, we’ve talked about that, I apologize. Read More