Well, I think some of the things that we’ve done in my tenure, I think the Wild Arctics were pretty cool. I think Discovery Cove was awesome, where you can swim in a reef and swim with dolphins. And I think the evolution of Antarctica from the Penguin Encounters to… Read More
No, no, working with such a large collection was actually, I think, a blessing because of the ability to have sustainable populations and the ability to have the flexibility and learn more. I think it’s exciting when you can look at thousands of penguins, you can walk into a penguin… Read More
Have you seen, again, the evolution of training and enrichment and activities aside from the animal care protocols at SeaWorld?… Read More
Absolutely, in all parts of the zoos and aquariums around the world are learning from each other. And it’s increasing daily. We’ve got a lot of work to do in some parts of the world though. Some of the quality of facilities aren’t very good and the quality of care… Read More
Yeah, certainly I did. I mean, I think the challenges you have are personalities. And it’s more people related. You run into somebody that’s in the entertainment department that wants to do this. And you can say, “Well, wait, can we talk about it?” “Well, we don’t need to talk… Read More
So working with people is a challenge. And those are probably the biggest things. I probably got great hair from working with people more than the animals. Read More
I was gonna say, was there any challenges working with such a large collection?… Read More
What’s unnatural about a breech or a spyhop?… Read More
They do it in the wild. All we did is condition the behavior.” So I think they’re just majestic animals. Read More
And people go, “Wow.” Did you have different challenges in various different positions as you moved through the organization (indistinct)?… Read More
Why do you think that killer whales became, what qualities propelled them to become this cause celeb as opposed to dolphins?… Read More
Well, I think dolphins were pretty cause celeb also because, again, people love dolphins. And they have the perpetual smile. I think people came to love killer whales simply because, again, their majesty, their grace, their size, what they can do, the speed of how they can swim. One of… Read More
And some of them don’t make it to their first birthday. They don’t count a whale in the wild, the people that are doing any census work, until they see a calf born, or not see it born, but see it its mother, and then it happens to be with… Read More
It’s always funny when you get, “Well, you make them do unnatural behaviors.” “Well, what do you mean unnatural?… Read More
Was that an issue or just part of the job?… Read More
It was just part of the job. I think a lot of people, once they got to know us, me, and then other people, you know, we had people come here a couple years ago for the CPSG and the WAZA meeting. WAZA is the World Association of Zoos and… Read More
And I think, in the future, we don’t need to circle the wagons. We just need to work together better. Read More
In October of 2016 at the AZA and IMATA conference you made the statement, “It was a tough year. Read More
Rough is good for you.” You meant what?… Read More
Well, their conference was rough simply because the keynote speaker was the CEO from the Human Society talking to people as he would to a minion audience. And he reminded me of a car salesman or an evangelist pontificating on how well they’ve cared for animals. You know, they make… Read More