In terms of issues to address in the future for Brookfield and all other zoos and the Zoo Association, Zoo and Aquarium Association. It seems to me that they must attend to both the opportunity and challenge of communicating more effectively with their publics. And I do not mean just… Read More
How to increase the likelihood that you’re gonna communicate effectively so that it’s not just caring in terms of thinking about this problem, caring in terms of being emotionally involved from seeing the animal or whatever, but caring for in terms of doing something about it. So it seems to… Read More
(George chuckles) In terms of issues to address in the future or from now on that zoos and the Zoo Association should really devote attention to?… Read More
Well, as I indicated earlier, I feel that they need real comprehension of how to communicate effectively with their publics and, not only their local publics, but with other parties, including governments and populations around the world. And in the process, really, in my regard, the fundamental is getting people… Read More
What are some of the other issues that you’d like to see Brookfield Zoo and other zoos in the future address and more broadly the AZA address?… Read More
It was published in the Journal of Virology. It’s gotten no notice whatsoever. Not even from the scholars documenting the contributions of animal substances and compounds to human medicine. It’s pretty, pretty sad. At any rate, I’ve been involved from the start. In 2005, we held a international meeting in… Read More
And it’s been supported by the Chicago Zoological Society through the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. And, as I say, about a hundred species in such circumstances now, but 400 more at least need to be. And of the some 6,000 plus species of salamanders, caecilians, and frogs and toads, at… Read More
But also common species. And this has been demonstrated from the Sierras in California, to the Mountains in Wyoming, to Central America cordillera, et cetera, et cetera. And in Australian in particular it’s been devastating. One of the particular species I had a fondness for, there were two species of… Read More
In terms of amphibian conservation, and this is one of the major challenges in what we foresee is mass extinction episode where we’re embarked upon now. I’ve been involved from the very start, when it was noticed that populations of creatures that biologists were studying in the wild were disappearing… Read More
So as a result, I had just become the chair of the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union. So I established a special task force on the declining amphibian populations and we set out to determine what was going on around the world. And the reports kept coming… Read More
What’s the significance of that pin and what are zoos doing or could be doing to influence the range, the conservation, the longevity of amphibian populations?… Read More
And were used in our staff efforts in Australia. But you don’t see… you see a few such appeals in zoos and aquariums, but not on the level that I think that could be. That is trying to enroll the public in concern for the particular species, especially the charismatic… Read More
Are zoos doing enough to influence conservation in the wild?… Read More
In terms of zoos doing enough to influence conservation of such creatures as the tiger, the lion, and so forth, no. And there are some substantial individual efforts out there. I mentioned Bruce Brewer before he went off and got us started on the population genetics front. Bruce is now,… Read More
Are zoos doing enough with this one charismatic mega vertebrate?… Read More
And I’m speaking here in reference to a recent initiative that I’ve become involved with. The Big Cats Initiative that the National Geographic Society is supporting and funding. Finding projects that are doable, that will enroll peoples in different parts of the world in caring about, and caring for their,… Read More
It doesn’t work that way. We’ve mentioned the big cats. Estimates today are the tiger population is dwindling greatly. Read More
In terms of the major allocations to funding facilities to accommodate say big animals like elephants, and so on, versus expending such funds in respect to international conservation efforts. I’d say that’s a challenging question. But what I would say is that, and referring to the conservation question in general,… Read More
So I would say that then it’s justifiable to expend large sums in the tens of million. So for facilities in these urban institutions, if they can and do devote themselves to changing the, shall we say, the attitude, the behavior of these urban publics to the rest of the… Read More
Would that money be better spent internationally for conservation efforts in the wild?… Read More