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
What’s the problem, and how should curators be trained today to do what is expected of them?… Read More
Satch, you know?” And I was taken aback, and I said, “Why would you think I would know him?” “Well, he says he owns a zoo. You have to know him. You were in the zoo business.” And that just makes me realize that we still have a long way… Read More
I told him, I said, “I hope the guy rots in jail.” And they, you know, “Really?… Read More
So we actually, I actually did it at Riverbanks. I had invited some prominent zoo directors as well as heads of some animal rights organizations or more probably closely aligned with welfare than right. And we asked them to do one thing, and that was when they are doing their… Read More
I live in a retirement resort community. Read More
A lot of very successful, well-informed people, who I view as successful and well-informed, “Do you know that guy?… Read More
Same animals. Now whether the average visitor picks up on that or not or whether the average visitor cares, I don’t know, but I think it’s gonna be a sad day for zoos. Zoos, in many cases today, are afraid to confront animal welfare rights groups that are anti-zoo. We… Read More
Could you give us your thoughts on how best to deal with these groups?… Read More
I guess that, you know, part of the answer was in the question. It depends on the director. If the director is aligned, for lack of a better term, with those anti-zoo folks and organizations, I don’t know there’s a lot you can do. But I think, like anything, it… Read More
It’s kind of a sore topic with me. (laughs) If I can bare my soul, I left the profession a little concerned, and I still am. I don’t think… I don’t think we, and in this regard, I’m speaking of the AZA, did all that we could and should have… Read More
I just think that, as directors, we kind of took our eye off the ball. And so you wake up one morning and when you say, you know, or your curator comes in and says, you know, “We’ve got to, old Rocky, our male lion who’s 16 years old is… Read More
Regional, North American?… Read More
Dangerous species?… Read More
A mix of both?… Read More