If we keep saying this species is in trouble in Africa and we’re not doing anything about it, or we haven’t even tried to do anything about it. Now, I’m not saying that we have to bankrupt the institution to get there, but if we’re not making some headway in… Read More
And you really hit ’em hard with a lot of conservation facts. ‘Cause they know they’re gonna get that, that’s why they’re there. They wanna know more. That’s your opportunity to really hit ’em hard. And you know, whether they turn around and donate back to you or whether they… Read More
Those are not just cliches. Those are things that are actionable. And we can prove that. That’s how you become relevant. I mean, it needs to be an enjoyable visit. It needs to be an enjoyable process. And you can subtly give people messages and you can subtly tell them… Read More
I mean, if we’re not doing conservation both locally and internationally, why aren’t we?… Read More
You’ve spoken about the zoo. Yeah, well, what I get concerned about is that zoos live off their laurels and you know, those days are gone. And we gotta turn the corner. I mean, whether you were the best of whatever, you had the largest whatever, that’s great. But I… Read More
But how does that really relate?… Read More
We don’t need to. But, you know, we’re taking on some pretty challenging cases and, well, I’ll say about both institutions is nobody ever said oh, we can’t do that. Both facilities I worked in all said we’re gonna put our shoulders into this thing and make sure it gets… Read More
You’ve used the word relevant, in what way?… Read More
Yeah, I think, you know, the lean financial years were terribly frustrating because you know what you want to get done, you know what has to get done, and there’s never enough money. I could say safely now, ZooTampa’s in a much better position. I mean, the problems still are… Read More
You wish you could just wave a wand and everything gets done at one time and it all looks perfect, but that’s not reality. So I think those are probably the most frustrating times. Those times are easing now. ZooTampa, for instance, is a successful requester for grants that they… Read More
So I think that’s the most frustrating thing is that you know, intrinsically, what you wanna get done. You know, I’ve got lists on top of lists and some of those things are still on the list. Now, the master plan will take care of some of the exhibit issues,… Read More
It’d be like, well, why are we even doing this?… Read More
And before I left, I don’t know if they’ve done it, I asked you should go out and survey those adults now and see how beneficial was Zoo School in your educational career?… Read More
Can you talk about some of your most frustrating or challenging times as director?… Read More
Just to see. Now, you got a handful of people you could go back and check. So yeah, I mean, all zoos have an educational program. ZooTampa’s just taking it a couple steps up now with that school being in there. Read More
You know, they take their kid to work with ’em and pick ’em up when they go home. And we work with the employees on, I mean, some days the employee has to work late or whatever it may be. That’s a rare occasion but we’ll work with those employees… Read More
So, you know, we’re just like Hillsborough County, except you come to the zoo. And prior to COVID, we used to have what’s called wraparound care. So you could drop your child off at seven o’clock in the morning and pick ’em up by 6:00 PM. We just wanted you… Read More
And they came in with those degrees. They achieved those before they were hired. I never considered us a degree snob. We would never turn anybody away who had great animal skills just because they didn’t have a degree. We didn’t have the wherewithal to give ’em funding to get… Read More
It’s part of Hillsborough County school system, kindergarten and first grade, had it for years. Have a list of families waiting to get their kids signed up. Now, I’ve been told I haven’t been able to verify this, that once a family has sent a child through our school, if… Read More
And I thought, wow, I’m pretty proud of that. You know, I’ll take my staff and put ’em up against the San Diego staff anytime or any other zoo. So I’m an advocate of that, but I don’t want it to detract from a person who wants to explore wildlife… Read More