Interview 34507 – Caption Index: 508
How do you measure the smile on a kid’s face?… Read More
How do you measure the smile on a kid’s face?… Read More
I don’t, we can’t quantify that. But that if that smile leads to something like it did for me or some other children, then, then it’s not anecdotal, but, but it’s also not something you can easily measure. So the wow factor is the animals are active to some degree,… Read More
How did you try and achieve what I would call a wow impact in exhibit design?… Read More
And, and, but I wish, I wish I could do that. I wish we could do that for every person in this country. The country would be a lot better off, but that’s not gonna happen. But you’ve been involved in trying to put together exhibits and exhibit design in… Read More
It’s a great idea. Long term. If you have too many people that go over to Africa and they’re all over the place, you’re gonna destroy the, everything you’re trying to save. So you’re gonna limit the amount of tourism. But, but, but I lead tours all the time. I’ve… Read More
So it’s very important for that reason. It’s important. ’cause now they realize that they have a sustainable, you know, rather than poaching. And some of these guys were poachers before and now they’re, now they’re now they’re helping to save the animals because, because there’s a direct connection with,… Read More
I’ve seen people I’ve taken to Africa. The husband goes, well, my wife wanted to go. I didn’t really wanna go on this trip. And afterwards, he’s like a kid in a camp. He’s just, he’s, he just, he, he’s thanking me. This was the greatest trip I’ve ever been… Read More
How important do you believe tourism in Africa is to protect species? Long term, Short term?… Read More
I think that question gets asked more now than it has in the past. And I think that, I think the pressure from the outside, from outside has changed zoos a lot. Which is, again, reactive, then proactive, I think it was the guy from GM said something, when the… Read More
So I, I think that there is a growing subset of people and I think the, the generation Z of the millennials do ask those questions that we never asked in the, in the past, well this is nice, there’s this habitat, but what are you doing for these animals… Read More
What, what are we gonna do now?… Read More
You know, you gotta be innovative. So I, I think that’s the ch the challenge, the, the what I see, I see that, I see the, the, the benefit is that people are seeing the results of long-term thinking. The the triple bottom line approach, which is a, is a,… Read More
No, not after I saw what Bill Conway went through in the Bronx. What, what’d they call that Species conservation center or something there, there was a cartoon in the New Yorker where these two gorillas are behind bars at the Central Park Zoo. And one looks at the other… Read More
And as we continue to talk about conservation, what worries you about it, but what gives you hope?… Read More
What worries me is the politics and the governments that make these decisions, you know, probably isolated from, from the communities that are there, I think. And, and politics doesn’t seem to, it’s not a long term conservation’s, long term commitment. Political, you know, political stuff is not, or even… Read More
What I’m meaning is, if if you’re not making, if you’re not every year doing something to help people and, and animals in remote communities save the habitat for the animals, then I, I I, I don’t, I I can’t justify a zoo that is just, that just, you know,… Read More
When you were director of the Houston Zoo, did you ever contemplate trying to change the name?… Read More
So you get to know them better. And, and, and that, that works for what I’m doing, but I’m not so sure the general public is, is is there yet the, the the, we, we have a lot of history. I wish we could change the name zoo. I, I… Read More
Instead, I’m doing something that is a model that will eventually generate more funds than I could ever generate in my lifetime. So I think that that’s the, you know, that that’s the change in, in attitudes of most zoos is that, you know, less species. Not, not, not dramatically… Read More
Again, we used to brag years ago about having species from every species, you know, the, the encyclopedia of, of, of, of species. Nowadays it’s more about zoo geographic. So animals from a certain certain area are in one section of the zoo and another section. I mean, that’s fine. Read More