You gotta make it a big deal ’cause every birth is important, and not some are more important. They’re all important ’cause it shows your management skills. So I said to the director, Dr. Fisher at the time. I said, “We could put a bear in a crate and ship… Read More
And it was like a community zoo, but very nice. And we make arrangements. We take the bear. Now, when you transport an animal, it’s always last on, first off. You don’t pack the animal where it takes time to get it off. So that was our, what you always… Read More
And she said, “Can my husband,” who’s just standing there, “Can we see the bear?” And I said, “Well, we’re going down with the airlines. It’s up to the airlines. We have to get it out.” She said, “Oh, okay. But there was a bear on the flight?” “Yes.” She… Read More
“You’re knowledgeable about where spectacle bears are.” Well, you were international studbook keeper. And that kind of played into it, and I’ll tell you that. So I knew where all the spectacle bears, but I knew that we had a surplus female ’cause we had done well with spectacle bears. Read More
I said, “We can supply that.” And again, if you don’t think something’s a big deal, why would anybody else think it’s a big deal?… Read More
If you have lions born at the zoo and you don’t think it’s a big deal ’cause, “Yeah, lions are born.” Why would anybody else think it’s a big deal?… Read More
And I say, the vet, “Can we give him something?… Read More
Just take the edge off. We don’t want to knock him down or tranquilize him so he can’t move.” He says, “Yes, we can do that.” Now, when he broke this barrier, that was my A plan. I didn’t have a B plan, which you should always have. You gotta… Read More
Take the edge off. Take the edge off. And we slowly, with the rebuilt wall, walked him and we got him into the crate and we closed the door this time and my mouth was so dry. I was, but now, we’re done. And then as they say, the rest… Read More
We got the giraffe in the plane up the wall or the top of the crate, had more room, and the escort took him to New Zealand. And as it turned out, got there okay, and fathered many, many babies. So there, you always have to have a B plan. Read More
So we have all these plan. There’s gonna be a police escort and so forth. But I knew that in cold weather, if the giraffe is on the truck, there’s a windshield factor. I don’t want this giraffe freezing on the way to the airport. So we worked it out… Read More
So we were all set to go and we had practice where, and again, where should each keeper be, What doors would be closed, when you’re there, what’ll happen?… Read More
So we, and this is a young giraffe. He’s under 12 feet. It was like 10 feet tall, which was great. And we get the giraffe and I’d made this move of adult giraffes, a number of times through the building and how to do it. So I knew what… Read More
The giraffe goes into the crate, but he turns around and they don’t close the door fast enough. Oh no. And he muscles his way out. Now, he wants to go back to the barn, to his stall and we’re trying hold the wall, and he kicks the wall. Even… Read More
And as it turns out, 12 feet is the, not air military. I’m talking about regular transport planes to get through the door. You have to be 12 feet. That’s the size of the door. So we knew that and we knew we had to build a special crate because… Read More
So we put this wonderful crate together. And then I get a call from the airlines. “Oh, we may have made a mistake on the dimensions of the skid that it’ll go on to be moved around in the freight hanger. You may have to do the crate an inch… Read More
That’s encouraging. So Mark, you’ve been involved with some pretty interesting transports in your career. Read More
Can you give me some elaboration on the, with the one about the giraffe moves to New Zealand?… Read More
I mean, that’s quite a distance. Well, I think, we’ve, again, international shipments and being able to do them successfully and it takes a lot of coordination and a lot of work. We had a call from zoo in Christchurch who was looking for a unrelated giraffe to their stock… Read More
And she called for help. And they were able, and luckily, she wasn’t seriously injured. She was injured, but not seriously where her life ended or she lost a limb or whatever. And this happened literally month or two after I had retired. And I have to tell you, I… Read More