They breed like rabbits. People think they’re gonna love them till they see them. (laughs) They don’t move. But they brought a lot of attention to the zoo, but it was something that in a million years I never dreamed that we would have. Read More
And people always ask me, “What is the most expensive animal you feed in the zoo?… Read More
What is it to maintain?” And I say, “Well, it weighs about 12 pounds. and it costs about $80,000 a year to feed.” And I ask people, “Guess what it is.” Well, it’s gotta be that. (mumbles gibberish) “No, it’s koalas.” It blows their mind, that, you know. ‘Cause we’re… Read More
Well, what did you learn from your importation of koalas?… Read More
Ugh. Lessons. Well, this came about as these things often do in a completely unanticipated way. Our state, South Carolina, is very conservative, and we have had a long, long, long list of Republican governors. But, I guess now 15-20 years ago, by a fluke of circumstances, we elected a… Read More
And they launched this at a big cocktail party and a press thing in our botanical garden. And I was there just as an invited guest because it was at the zoo, so they had to invite me. So I’m standing there drinking a glass of wine and watching all… Read More
Are there programs or exhibits that you would have implemented during your tenure that didn’t happen?… Read More
You know, we built in 2001. We never had great apes at the zoo, and I always wanted great apes, and in particular I wanted gorillas. And so finally we were able to do that. I got the funding, got the gorillas. That more or less fulfilled my dream list… Read More
So we had a lot of really cool animals, if I could use that very non-scientific term. So, no, you know, I don’t think so. I don’t think so. Of course, you always have a list. I mean, we were talking the other day about insect zoos. I think insect… Read More
I’m not sure I overtly received the advice, but I certainly learned it, and that’s don’t lie. I learned that from the best, a person who had a very difficult time telling the truth about anything. And I just saw the devastating impact that had on people, on morale, on… Read More
Nobody can tell you that firing somebody can be good for them, but you learn it, you see it. I fired a guy early in my career. He had a big position at the zoo, and I just, I had to let him go. And his wife was furious. I… Read More
It was like pulling teeth. (laughs) You know, I gave a presentation one time at a zoo directors conference on SSPs and how they had, how effective they were or how they had involved. And the first slide that I had was that famous Pogo cartoon slide of “We have… Read More
Once people saw what was happening and the benefit of it and not wanting to be left outside the room while everybody else was playing inside, that took care of that problem. Read More
What was one of the most important pieces of advice you received that stayed with you throughout your career?… Read More
There are… And I have apologize, I’ve lost track of the number of AZA-accredited zoos, not zoos and aquariums, but zoos, but I’m gonna guess it’s 190 to 200. Private zoos in the manner in which you described them make up a very small percentage of that. Some of them… Read More
How difficult, when you were at AZA, was the Species Survival Plan to implement for zoos and aquariums?… Read More
Did everyone buy into this program?… Read More
Yep. potentially a lot of money. Yep. They have endangered species. Yep. Read More
Do you have an opinion about private zoos and their longevity versus we’ll call the public municipal zoos?… Read More
Can I throw in versus public municipal zoos and private nonprofit zoos?… Read More