Once again saying I’m old school. I think it’s very important that curators need to experience. I mean, they need practical hands on experience. I have certainly seen institutions hire people from the academic community. Have great academic credentials may have done, some wonderful field work, but never worked in… Read More
You can’t know everything about everything, and you have to have an open mind where you can learn from your keepers. There’s a hot topic of zoos maintaining elephants in their collections. You’ve had elephant experience. Read More
How do you think curators should be trained today to do what’s expected of them?… Read More
What’s the problem?… Read More
And hey, I want to get involved. There’s been a complaint at times from zoo directors that there are few good curators. Read More
It’s a draw or it can be a draw to have the temporary exhibits, the visiting animals. I mean, and that has the advantage, you may not have to have, build a permanent specialized facility, it helps with drawing people in because it’s there for a limited time, no different… Read More
I could say yes and no. I feel strongly both ways. Yeah, breeding animals are important to zoos. I mean, it’s important to zoos for the conservation and survival of many species. I mean it’s also important, baby animals draw, you get the right. You don’t have to have a… Read More
Should every zoo be trying to breed animals?… Read More
But then again, too, you have to look at, in a small zoo, what can it do?… Read More
They may have a very, very limited staff. I mean, the smaller zoos that may have a half a dozen or 10 people or less, including the director that are responsible for that zoo to operate seven days a week, 365 days a year, no matter what happens, every day,… Read More
Yes, but I there’s certainly limits, the resources and in those resources are, you know, I mean the physical plan, financial availability, what the community wants, what the zoo can realistically accomplish, where it becomes meaningful. I mean, it’s easy to say you’re doing stuff, but in my opinion, if… Read More
Can they do anything?… Read More
What do you think a small or a medium size municipal zoo today can do to be involved in wildlife conservation either nationally or internationally?… Read More
But then again, too, serving your public, when someone comes to zoo, what do you wanna see?… Read More
Are you best seeing a wonderful exhibit of a limited number of species or a diverse collection of species, with lesser numbers, I guess that’s all in, it becomes a personal choice. You were involved in a medium size zoo in Mesker Park, you went to bigger zoos that wish… Read More
And the face of the director would be the face of the zoo, would be the embodiment of the zoo. If you had a zoo director that loved reptiles, it’s amazing, but a good reptile collection you’d have in your facility, if you know, mammals or primates, you have a… Read More
Well, I don’t know, to start with Sauls, evolution not revolution, don’t expect to change things overnight, nobody, nothing will be able to do that. Zoo is for people. I used to say that zoos are run for zoo people. You know, a deer is a deer, is a deer,… Read More
You’ve received a lot of advice I’m sure in your career, what strikes you as maybe some of the most important advice you’ve received that stayed with you, maybe you’ve even passed on to other people?… Read More
I mean, maybe you play your cards right. And you go to some plumbing company or something, and they may wind up doing that. But it’s not too often that people wind up giving their money blindly and saying here here’s the do what you think you need to do. Read More
I’m old school with my opinion of what a zoo should be. And though, you need the animals and you need conservation and you need education and you need research. The only one that should be, well for the most part, the only one should be the animals. People should… Read More