That after a few years that I was there, the assistant director left and Gean Hartz, and I felt that I should get that job. And with my experience that I had had there and other zoos, and that I got along at that zoo. Everybody knew me, I knew… Read More
And, but I was very forceful in my desires to have it, to get it. And eventually, you know, he came around to that, came around to that conclusion also. And so he did, but I think really, I think that Les, well to start with, Les I think was… Read More
It’s not just taking them from the wild and say, here’s something for the public to look at and whatever. This is, that’s the objective of it. I mean, whether it’s conservation or not, I mean, maybe it’s a pipe dream to think that the zoos were gonna be able… Read More
What was a typical day like for you at Lincoln Park Zoo?… Read More
Now of course you were, let me preface it by saying you were general curator, but then let’s talk about you got a- Yeah, well. Read More
Was she sent away, stayed at the zoo?… Read More
I honestly don’t remember. I’ll have to say that I don’t remember really at this stage. I think we introduced her, I’m pretty sure we did. When we talked about that first gorilla birth, it obviously brought emotions back to you about that. Read More
But why? I mean, it was the fact that- Well it was something that, you know, you were in, that’s the objective I think of all of us, was the objective, and probably, I’m assuming is still the objective, was to breed these animals, you know?… Read More
And one of our keepers was with them, I wouldn’t say, was it 24 hours or, I think it probably was, basically with that animal 24 hours, and she survived. And it was an amazing, amazing thing. Now go back to that first gorilla birth, Kumba. She was taken from… Read More
Then what eventually happened to her?… Read More
Was she reintroduced to her mom?… Read More
Yes. Lenore- Lenore’s baby, right? Yeah, yeah. And somehow or other, she got into, Lenore may have got into a fight with the male, or perhaps she somehow way or other did abuse the baby. And the baby was in a real bad, a real bad child abuse situation, truthfully,… Read More
And it was early in the morning when someone, it was one of the keepers, maybe?… Read More
Pat Mulroy. (chuckling) Yeah, a keeper named Pat Mulroy came, and he was working in the building at the time, came in and, “Something is wrong, you know, with the gorilla baby.” And we ran in there and sure enough, there was just this baby laying there, like she had… Read More
Can you relate when one of the gorillas, Patty, sustained an injury and your involvement?… Read More
Oh yes, yeah. There, all kinds of things go on with a collection, and the more animals you have in it, is the more things will go on. And she was, she was her mother. Read More
She was her, wasn’t she with her mother?… Read More
She held it to herself. But I remember that we never, you couldn’t, it was very difficult to see the baby nursing, whether it was nursing or not. It was very difficult because she held it so tight and on, you know, around her. And she had her arms always… Read More
And the big disappointment really of that was, that whole incident, was that she didn’t continue to take care of it very well. And it was, in a way it’s not surprising, you know, I don’t know, ’cause I don’t know how much, we don’t know of course how much… Read More
I think reluctantly, everybody took it away. We took it away and took it down to our nursery, which Was, you know, really the only thing you could do. I mean, honestly it was, she was handling it very badly. Like she was holding it casually by one hand, which… Read More