Interview 12083 – Caption Index: 508
Anniversary last year, right?… Read More
Anniversary last year, right?… Read More
“The Ark in the Park” was labor of love because I’d been with the organization such a long time and cared about it, knowing that no one had ever produced a history of the zoo. There’d been a mini one done many years ago, but it was like in a… Read More
I had done oral interviews with animal keepers. So all this history was there and I felt it should be told because it had such a rich history. It was an old zoo. And I wanted to tell this story. And I had two collaborators, Ed Uhlir and Carol Tauber. Read More
It was such great detective work to find these things. A lot of work though, a lot of time involved in it. It was a lot of time, but it was a labor of love. It needed to be done. And again, as we talked about your job, you’re gonna… Read More
And they said, “This is great. We’ll buy, we’ll do it.” Yeah. It was a Chicago story. So I get, you know, but the credentials were there of the people who could tell the story. And they had stuff in their hands say, “We weren’t just flash in the pans. Read More
I’m just curious, how and why did you decide to take on such a challenge?… Read More
Oh, I think the ideal approach has to be collaborative. You’ve got to not have an architect who wants to build a monument to him or herself. You have to include your animal keepers. They’re the ones who are gonna be dealing with this exhibit or exhibits the rest of… Read More
And they came to us, we built the Great Ape House and the old one. And they said, “Oh, we wanna build one like yours.” And I said, “No, you wanna build it better. You don’t wanna build the same one. We’re gonna tell you where we made our mistakes. Read More
Don’t make our mistakes.” So I think that collaborative approach both nationally, internationally and within your team is where you get the best success. So in speaking of successes, I like to think of the publication of your book. “The Ark in the Park” is quite an accomplishment. I mean,… Read More
So how can I learn about a species if I can’t do something with it in a professional manner?… Read More
Maybe I get two or three people together. But that create, being creative a bit, I think has been a bit lost. I would also say that the accreditation program of zoos from AZA has been wonderful to keep the zoos in a high standard. And also, the classes, again,… Read More
And ultimately, the tail shouldn’t be wagging the dog. It’s the members who created this organization many years ago. But you know, I’ve been out of it for a little while. So that’s my opinion. I think you’re still right on. Read More
This is something that’s kind of fallen back a little bit and we’ve talked about it, but in your own mind, what is the ideal zoo exhibit design approach?… Read More
I think you need zoos more than ever because of the dwindling wild. Zoos are last bastion of education about what’s going, and again, they have to be the stewards and part of the leadership role of the wild. Yeah. Yeah. Read More
Getting back to our professional parent organization, AZA, had the species survival programs of AZA helped zoos in developing their collections?… Read More
That is, has it allowed them to venture out to develop new animal breeding programs?… Read More
Well, I think, AZA, the breeding, the Species Survival programs, I think have been beneficial because they bring a whole bunch of people together for the greater good. I think where it falters in my opinion is that it doesn’t leave a lot of room for independent thinking. That is… Read More
How important is community support?… Read More
Can a zoo survive without it?… Read More
Yes, they cannot survive without. A community’s support is everything. Whether you’re in a small community or a giant community, you have got to be relevant. Absolutely. Again, we’re talking about critics of zoos. Read More