Interview 20517 – Caption Index: 313
How can zoos improve their connection with kids and teenagers to heighten their awareness about the natural world?… Read More
How can zoos improve their connection with kids and teenagers to heighten their awareness about the natural world?… Read More
Natural world?… Read More
Mm-hmm. Show them the reality of living in the wild, high infant mortality rate, for instance. The lifespan of wild animals is much, much shorter compared with zoo equivalent. That sort of thing. It’s not a very popular topic, but has to be relayed to the teenagers, that they are… Read More
Somewhere I heard in a big zoo that curators do have a job. If the public wants to bother to come to the zoo, yeah, they are welcome. That attitude has to have a 180 degree turnaround, that zoos are for the general public, and you are there as an… Read More
That reality has to be introduced to the public, not to mention the rhino horns, for instance. It may not be palatable to show a dead rhino, their horns sawed off, blood dripping. It is shocking to children, but even using a small photo, some way have to get in… Read More
Do you have any advice for the new zoo curator about the importance of marketing zoos?… Read More
What are the most important aspects of marketing you think about?… Read More
Cruel?… Read More
No. (laughing) You mentioned Gary Clarke, the director of the Topeka Zoo, as very excellent in marketing. Mm-hmm. Read More
Wild animals have their own needs that you are not aware, or you may not appreciate. One day, a young woman called me up in the office, and talked about wolves. Read More
She said in a very soft voice, do they really kill?… Read More
The predator has to kill other animals to survive. That’s reality. They have to know that. Read More
The programming more meaningful?… Read More
General public has their own limited view of animals. Their view of, quote unquote, animal is nurtured by household companions, nowadays, it’s companion animal, not a pet, but general public’s concept of animals probably nurtured by a household pet, dogs, for instance, or horses. But there’s a great, it’s maybe… Read More
Not quite yet. You have to have the firm stand to represent the zoo, but when it comes to hot topics, such as cetaceans and primates, it often becomes a front page story. You mean the orca, that’s one good example. You have to remember that zoos and aquariums are… Read More
And of course, zoos probably help to change the image of the gorilla as a gentle giant. Sure, field researchers did that, but the zoos also helped, I’m pretty sure, that they are not vicious, wild animals, but a gentle giant. Read More
What can be done to make the visitor connection?… Read More
It is still viable. Important to have the worldview. Emphasize that to the general public, and within the staff, to help out endangered species in the wild in various ways, and it’s being done slowly, but it’s happening. Read More
Is education doing any good particularly in boosting the image of zoos among the public and the face of anti-zoo groups?… Read More
Is it financial?… Read More