That’s a great question. Through my involvement in the board of the AZA, I was intimately involved in those discussions for a number of years. And it was frustrating to me to attend a board meeting and have a committee report, and you would have just incredibly divergent opinions on… Read More
What issues would you like to see zoos address in the future?… Read More
Issues, I’m not sure what issues, but I would like to see something that I spoke to earlier. I would like to see greater separation in the minds of the public between AZA-accredited institutions and private or roadside zoos. I would like to see zoos, and I think we are… Read More
Can one build a zoo with an airtight insulation against interference from political or otherwise?… Read More
What issues caused you the most concern during your career, and how do you see the future regarding these same concerns?… Read More
Oh, that’s easy, money. I don’t think any zoo, whether it’s small, medium, or large, ever has enough money to do what it needs to do to provide its animals and its guests with the best possible experience. You’ve always juggling those balls. You got 10 balls in the air… Read More
You’ve gotta keep doing those things to keep the zoo a part of people’s lives. And that means you’ve gotta change. You’ve gotta evolve. And evolution in the way I’m referring to, it costs money. So it always comes back to the mighty dollar. Read More
This is in in our community, I can’t believe it.” And there’s been some research on this. I’ve read a lot of papers, but people now are looking for experiences. Not just to visit to the zoo, but I want an experience when I visit the zoo. I want to… Read More
And we’ve got some zoos that have embraced that in a far bigger way than I did. But I think it’s been good. I think it’s been good. Read More
But this happened organically with me. One of my heroes in the profession was a guy named Earl Wells, who was the director of, I think, one of the best little zoos in the world in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Earl was a guy who was way ahead of his time. Read More
He had just retired, and I got on a plane and flew to Fort Wayne, Indiana, which is not something you do every day.. And I saw this thing and I loved it. And so I came back and I told my board. I said, “I know you’re gonna think… Read More
We had climbing walls and zip lines. And every one of them made money, a lot of money. And the guests, back to your question, the guests embraced that. They embraced it. I had a gentleman tell me one time. I ran into him somewhere, and he said that he’d… Read More
I don’t think we’ve done a good job of that. There are some communication issues there and some cultural issues there, but we gotta find a way to make that all work. Read More
What changes have you seen during your years in the zoo field regarding visitor attitudes and administration at the national level?… Read More
I personally observed at Riverbanks, and this was, this is sort of a two-headed monster, I guess. For most zoo directors, money is always an issue. Always an issue. You gotta paint the inside of the cat and bear enclosures. Well, we’re not gonna do that because we gotta replace… Read More
I’d say in the 5 to 10 years before I retired and even in the five or so years since I have retired, the biggest complaint that I hear from other directors is, “Oh my God, my mammal curator, my bird curator, or my director of animal collections is retiring… Read More
And I went to him several times over the years and said, “Why don’t you?… Read More
You know, there’s an opening over here. You know, why don’t you?” And he always gave me the same answer. He said, “I wouldn’t do what you do for anything in the world.” So it’s just the profession in that regard has changed so much. We want, as the universal… Read More
You know, he’s one of you. You know, he’s the Tiger King.” I don’t know. But you gotta just keep talking to them. That’s all you can do. You gotta keep talking. And, you know, when I was a zoo director, I was always, I had to laugh. At least… Read More
You know, I belong to the zoo, I belong to PETA.” And, you know, well, wait a minute, hold on, you know. “Do you understand that they want to close?” “Really? Really?” It just shows you how ill-informed people are about not just zoos, but animals and nature. We need… Read More