So I, I love that program and think that it, it’s done a lot. In fact, I’m now on the conservation committee for the Zoological Association of America and we just gave out grants. We had two, we had 230 grant applications, which I think is more than a ZA… Read More
Is that a huge exhibit for one species or is it a biome that houses five or six species together where you can tell a story, you can talk about the environment and how they interact together, that type of thing. Yeah. You talk about conservation a little. Read More
What research or conservation projects are you most excited about right now?… Read More
And I think in the last 15, 20 years, we really began, although we say we’re building naturalistic exhibits for the species, what we’re really have been doing is doing it for the public and the public’s perception of what it should be. And it, like I said, the research… Read More
So what’s the best use of that space?… Read More
And that is, what are we doing?… Read More
Why are we building and designing the way we’re building?… Read More
You know, I, I’ve done a lot of exhibit design and, and now, although I’m retired, I still have my company and we, we do that and it’s, I did a thing, I did an article, and I haven’t published it yet, but I was thinking about it called, it’s… Read More
And, and see, that’s, that’s a big question too, as you look at a collection plan and decide what you’re going to do is can you make that commitment to provide what’s needed there and understanding the cost that goes along with it and, and meeting the obligations of, of… Read More
And that’s been, to me, the biggest advancement. Read More
Oh yeah, I think so. I mean, look at the, the studies we did with elephants and trying to understand what’s going on there and the advancements now that we’ve made by looking at and studying the welfare of animals and, and what an elephant needs and, and how we’re… Read More
When you talk about the species, are there species whose care standards have changed significantly in recent years?… Read More
Well, I think it’s, part of, it has contributed to, I don’t wanna say animal rights people, because we’re, we believe in animal rights. But other groups out there when we talk about the individual specimen and beginning to understand what welfare is, you know, when I first got in… Read More
What advancements would you say in animal welfare science had the biggest impact on your daily work?… Read More
Well, I don’t know what’s becoming more important. I’ll tell you what I think are incredibly important and where some of the younger generation now, as far as zoo managers are at, is that they lack, it’s a business. And yes, it’s about understanding the science of husbandry and genetics… Read More
They’re a great, they were a great manager, they were a great keeper, okay. But there’s other qualities that you need to look at that haven’t been looked at, and you need to consider those two. And I think that’s been one of the weaknesses that I’ve seen coming through… Read More
Well, you know, I think that depends upon the institution and where it’s at. In some cases the, you know, the younger generation still has a pretty good morale towards it. A lot of the older generations are, you know, are frustrated because of our inability to do certain things… Read More
What skills or roles are becoming more important for zoo professionals today?… Read More
Well, I think two things. One is there’s a change that’s been brought about by outside pressures that has moved our concentration from conserving a species to dealing with the individual animal welfare. And it’s important, don’t get me wrong, but the public is concerned about the individual. Where I… Read More
And I think that has hurt a number of programs that I thought were good programs. The other change is when you look at staffing nowadays, and I’ve had this conversation with a lot of my peers in the past, is I think we didn’t do our job in mentoring… Read More