Well, my successor at Brookfield has posited an additional rung on the latter of the “Evolution of Zoos.” And that’s really more in terms of inspiring conservation leadership in the generations to come. And I think that’s an extension of the Conservation Center concept, but it’s being placed as an… Read More
Well, in terms of the emphasis on marketing and such in our institutions in a world competing for attention for all kinds of services and facilities and pleasures, it seems to me that that’s a real task for leadership that you’ve got to have informed and committed leadership in terms… Read More
And is there another rung after the last thing or has it reached ts pinnacle?… Read More
Is there a danger that with the emphasis that zoo and aquariums have on marketing and revenue, that there may be a drift away from conservation science?… Read More
And how are the efforts of the SSP programs in the sky high cost of maintaining and expanding zoo parks?… Read More
You’re asking about the commitment in terms of longterm maintenance of endangered species and reasonably size populations, it’s gonna assure the viability of the species for the long term. And it seems to me that this should again be considered a part of that core allocation in the budget. I… Read More
When you talk about populations like this, where do you see zoos going in the not too distant future regarding their limited efforts in maintaining longterm captive populations?… Read More
And then the chytrid fungus arrived too. But we got the World Bank embarrassed enough to cough up funding to get animals out to Bronx Zoo. And originally Detroit, now the population’s at Toledo. But they’re maintaining ’em and it’s too large for one facility, but they’ve got on the… Read More
What can medium and small-size zoos do to assist conservation?… Read More
Well, there’s so many grounds to stake out. I mentioned, for instance, a hundred species and some security in terms of surviving populations now in captive circumstances. And Houston Zoo has been engaged in that. Almost certainly any medium sized zoo could provide facilities of the standards necessary for that… Read More
So the visitor can zoom in on what’s happening to the creature, and it’s pretty engaging. And furthermore, she’s paid a salute, although there are not many amphibians in the desert regions of the world, there’s some interesting ones. But she’s even got a little segment identifying that this is… Read More
She basically built it from scratch, extended the area, provided for native animals and their illustration of their conservation needs. She’s engaged the community, which consists, in many parts of that region, of people from elsewhere, including here in Chicagoland, but people now from Alaska, and so forth are part… Read More
That’s the aim that all institutions should have. And there are individual exhibits in many places that are admirable in terms of the obvious improved welfare of the animals, and so forth. And last year I was in Frankfurt to see their great ape facilities in which they’re really planting… Read More
One that I visited earlier this year upon the retirement of their, basically their original director, was out in Palm Desert, California. And that’s the establishment that Karen Sausman put together, the Living Desert. And what she had done was not just work in respect to the exhibits, portraying the,… Read More
I think there is more expectation by the public, that there will be reflection of some conservation consciousness in the presentations of the zoos. In terms of the actual operations, I don’t think there’s been that much of a change because people are not informed. And I don’t think in… Read More
Are there any zoos that you particularly admire and why would that be?… Read More
Have I seen a change in the public perception of zoos?… Read More
So in terms of the availability of animals to exhibit in the circumstances of these urban institutions, they simply won’t be there unless there is a much, much greater commitment to the conservation efforts in the zoos. Read More
Have you seen a change in the public’s perception of zoos?… Read More
Well, if they don’t, in terms of zoos 50 years in the future, that is very difficult to contemplate. No doubt some institutions will exist, that is be still in the business of keeping some species in captive circumstances for the education, the entertainment of their visitors, their visiting public. Read More