He had trucks, he had a knowledgeable staff, and so we ordered an elephant from Louis. The elephant, as I recall, was $4,000, the same price as the giraffe from San Diego Zoo. And we came over, and I was still only 25, just 26, I guess. And it was… Read More
That they were determined to show their strength and establish their power in the islands. And the shipping strike, 90 days is what I recall. Maybe it was longer, but it delayed construction. It backed up, our giraffe pen was delayed way more than the length of the strike. So… Read More
Well, Louis Goebel and his wife, Kathy, at Thousand Oaks, California, which is 50 miles north of LA, now huge booming suburb of LA. At that time, it was a tiny rural area that was essentially among other things, a movie set for westerns. And with the rolling hills covered… Read More
There’s gonna be a big demand for giraffes, it’s going to be slow to be met, because remember, giraffes usually only have one child, one baby at a time, and they have a long gestation. So it’s a slow process of creating a herd of giraffes. So I recommend you… Read More
So where’d we get the elephants?… Read More
And that was a goal that Mrs. Benchley particularly emphasized, get reading family groups. So early on after, the first requirement was to get the additional, an elephant as a companion to the one that we just acquired by gift. We didn’t need more chimpanzees, we needed another camel, a… Read More
And you’ve asked what I recommend, and I can recommend that really strongly for several reasons. One is they’re going to have to be imported from Africa, and they’re going to have to come through our quarantine stations here on the East Coast, it’s up in New Jersey, And they’re… Read More
Does that mean you went to the mainland?… Read More
Yes, and the way that worked, primarily the San Diego Zoo was essential. 80% of everything I did with mainland zoos was the San Diego Zoo. They were my friends, I was low on funds among other things, so I stayed as a house guest at Chuck Shaw’s, the reptile… Read More
And all of a sudden, instead of having… if you’re shipping baby elephants, orangs, tigers, all of the monkeys, all of the animals from Southeast Asia, no longer had to get on a ship and have a long circuitous route from Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, wherever they were originating. They had… Read More
The airlines were growing like mushrooms across the Pacific. And that demand was being met by shipments by dealers. But primarily the ones that I was involved with were mostly with friends that had zoos and almost entirely the San Diego Zoo and the Sydney Zoo. And I want to… Read More
Yes, one of the unique things that we had going for us, a very special condition was occurring. Remember the timeframe here, it’s right after, it’s the year after World War II is over. All of a sudden, those penned-up demands of those five, four war years where zoos could… Read More
And does that mean you’re traveling to the mainland?… Read More
And where did you go and why?… Read More
So I had to be very cautious. Cautious is the wrong word. I had a plan as well as possible to get animals that were hardy, the really delicate forms, Rarity wasn’t a critical thing. I wanted to get hardy adaptable animals that would do well. That wouldn’t have a… Read More
I’d go down and fly down and do quick visits to, on my own money, our own money, family money, our salary, to familiarize myself with, essentially a crash course how to run a zoo, build a zoo. Okay, we’re talking about with your own money, you started to get… Read More
So they did great coverage, not only for the Honolulu papers, but for the San Diego Union. And an answer to your question, I think that one sentence is the best answer. The credibility, the integrity, the fact that, essentially, we were filling a need that was favorable. It was… Read More
But in terms of building the zoo, one technique, Mark, the humane society here was a reasonable group compared to many of the animal activists, by here, I mean in Honolulu, of course. They were long established, they were run and wealthy run by, and managed by a pair of… Read More
So I went out with the reporters and on the way out, this is typical, Mark. I told the reporters, “Okay.” They said, “What are you doing here, essentially?” And I said, “Well, I’m meeting this guy from San Diego who’s gonna design the zoo so we’ve got a place… Read More
Did you have any idea of how you’re gonna actually get money now to build what he is giving you?… Read More