Oh, boy, animal handling was then still is an issue, but it’s been, of course, altered dramatically by newer technology. But in the early years it was a hands-on situation. For example, if we had to go and work on one of the hoofstock, say one of the antelopes, the… Read More
In the beginning, how did animal handling go at the zoo?… Read More
Well, my memory on that is a little bit long mark, but if I were to say yes, it would be one animal. For whatever reason, in my early years as a part-time zoo doctor, I used to have to make occasional night calls to the Monkey House, the Old… Read More
And she looked at me and said, “Dr. Fisher it’ll be the same when it was 100% male.” And I said, “Okay (laughs), “I can’t argue with that point.” So I think happily, the sex as part of the zoo world has changed and will continue to change. Read More
Dr. Fisher, did you ever dream of any of the animals at the zoo?… Read More
And one time, years ago, I jokingly asked a woman student, what she thought would happen when the profession became 100% female?… Read More
Today I can walk around the zoo and feel that it really is a wondrous just extension of the garden that exists in Lincoln Park next to it. So that goal has been achieved, even though I wasn’t able to do it, I tried. And I think the fact that… Read More
So gradually the black community have slowly steadily come in, and I think the Latino community also are changing as Chicago being now, I think diversifying so that our city, not the suburbs, but the city is pretty much split between Latino, black, and white populations. I think it’s important… Read More
I guess they’ve accomplished what I wanted to, and never accomplished, and that was to make the name of the zoo be proper. We call it Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens. And by golly, even though I tried hard, the Park District never did it. We were fortunate, and still are,… Read More
And in the early years, when we tried to address collaboration, if someone were to tell Chicago, “You’re gonna have to send Bushman to Kansas City.” There would be a reaction, a public outcry. Well, when we tried starting to organize the Gorilla Species Survival Plan, we ran into that. Read More
Is there anything you would have liked to accomplish when you were director, but weren’t able to?… Read More
I think at Lincoln Park as I reflect back on times that I’ve been there, I think, and it wasn’t me personally, that had much to do with it, but the fact that it remained and still is, was a free open facility for all. I always felt good about… Read More
And I think the movement has gone a long way from way down here to way up there, that today I’m comfortable going into any accredited zoo in the United States, certainly, and know that the animals are properly cared for. Read More
Going back to Lincoln Park, what are some of your proudest accomplishments?… Read More
I think the majority of zoos today in the world, because we’re talking of that in the area of how do we deal with the animal rights issue, are no longer the terrifying, terrible place that they were 50, 100, 200 years ago. I think the fact that philosophically, a… Read More
I think that people are endowed with certain abilities and rights and things that the animal world are not. And whether it’s a domestic creature, wild creature, we have to honestly look at that. And so I think that this is an ongoing struggle between the community and individuals to… Read More
How do you feel zoos are doing in answering the challenges from the anti-zoo groups?… Read More
“An animal should be left alone, leave them in the wild. “Don’t bring them into captivity.” There are various humane groups. One of the active groups we call PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, that’s kind of, I feel personally a strong fringe group. They would like to… Read More
That’s almost like when I started in this work, 50 or 60, 70 years ago, whatever it was. And I touched down the fact that in medical schools, there was the vivisection, anti-vivisection battle that even today is not totally laid to rest. Read More
I think that zoos are faced today with an element of society that say, “Why a zoo?… Read More