Well, I think part of the main role for zoos as far as I’m concerned is they’ve got to be part and show a leadership role in the in situ work of animals in nature. They have a giant audience. They have potentially money. You’ve gotta make sure your house… Read More
Only in the last X number of years have there been more women zoo directors and more women keepers. Certainly there’s a lot in the field now than there were 10, 15 years ago. Read More
But are there more minorities that can add to this?… Read More
So those are, I think are some of the issues that zoos and the national association could be tackling for the next generation. Yeah. Yeah. Read More
I think you have to have, the curatorial staff get as, again, that’s up to a director, give them as much professional growth as possible. The zoo association has some wonderful classes about a lot of things now. You should be throwing those people at every one of those classes… Read More
So what are the largest professional problems facing US zoos today, US zoos?… Read More
And what can we do to correct the problem?… Read More
Well, I think one of the big things and is gonna continue to be a big thing is zoo’s relationship with the animal welfare, animal rights organizations. I don’t know that they’re ever going to see eye to eye, but I think that it’s up to the zoo association, AZA… Read More
Well, I think at one, you gotta have a sense of being, you gotta be prepared to fail and to learn from those failures. You have to try and continue to have a sense of humor ’cause it’s gonna carry you through the dark times. You have to know that… Read More
I’m gonna follow up with that because there’s a constant complaint from zoo directors that there are too few good curators in our community today. Read More
How should curators be trained today?… Read More
Not as much as they should. I think you gotta learn, again, we’ve talked about it, but I think you gotta be a student of the game. You gotta know, not only the his, I believe the history of your profession, but you gotta know the history of your institution. Read More
And say, “Here, read it.” And maybe we’re gonna talk about it later into some informal discussions. Know where you work. Read More
So what should be the top qualities of a curator today?… Read More
Yeah, because I think there’s a job to be done. And I think that there are professionals doing it and doing a very good job of trying to move things ahead. And we always are on the shoulders of people who came before us. I did stuff. And I’ll mention… Read More
And I said, “Yes. Oh my gosh, that’d be fabulous.” But here’s was a, just what bears were where, I mean, it was, no big deal, just, here’s the bears, here’s where they are, here’s their numbers, so forth. I wanted this, again, I was on the shoulders of this… Read More
So we had not only photos, but we had articles and we had the facts, the studbook. So I wanted it to be a resource tool as opposed to just a listing of where all the bears were. That’s right. The idea of building upon what is there from the… Read More
Well, so with that in mind, do you feel that animal keepers and senior staff know their profession’s history?… Read More
And accreditation, I think, is a very positive thing. Yeah, holds them accountable. So the zoo business has changed greatly in the years since you’ve been in it. Read More
And knowing what you know today, would you have entered the field when you did and would you enter it today?… Read More