Unfortunately the followup was getting zoos to maintain, become members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The followup wasn’t there on the part of the IUCN at the time. And while I had considerable influence in the council of the IUCN, I also had a very odd… Read More
There were people like Uly Seal already in the setting of the Species Survival Commission, but in terms of the involvement of the institutions and commitments on this front, it simply wasn’t there. So at the Singapore conference many years ago, I challenged the directors of the Zoological Gardens and… Read More
But his outreach to places around the world. And as you may know, he etched the little panda symbol of the World Wildlife Fund. That was his work. But he also sketched when he went around the world and one of the places was in Oman. And then in that… Read More
How did you see your relationship with it moving, not only Brookfield, but zoos nationally to be more involved with conservation?… Read More
Well, in terms of the IUCN, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, I early on became associated when Peter Scott was the chair of that commission, and the Species Survival Commission, which is devoted to promoting the conservation of individual species, especially the more charismatic, and so on,… Read More
And they were very supportive. They let me do my thing. You spoke before about the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and it has a varied hierarchy. Read More
Well, in terms of the Chicago Zoological Society and my relationships there, I mean, what we did basically was build a general membership. When I came, there was only a group of prominent citizens constituted the governing membership and who elected amongst themselves trustees who governed the institution. and its… Read More
The Brookfield Zoo Society. Read More
And did it change over the years from when you first started?… Read More
With the?… Read More
(George chuckles) My management style was to keep my hands off as much as possible, but shout when necessary in terms of when I felt programs and strategies, et cetera, were off the mark. And so I uttered a few curse words in my time, but mainly it was to… Read More
What was your relationship with the Zoo Society?… Read More
What was your management style?… Read More
And so it was very important to have good relations, personal relations with the superintendents. And we had long-standing good relations with people like Arthur Janura, who was so long superintendent during my time. Read More
How would you describe yourself as director?… Read More
So the aim in terms of opening for the major world exhibition in ’33, ’34, was only the end of ’34 that, the end of that time that Brookfield opened. But in terms of what I’ve witnessed and encountered in general, there’s been substantial support for the institution such that… Read More
And did politicians play a role?… Read More
(George chuckles) You bring up an interesting aspect of the institutional setting of Brookfield It is, in effect, a governmental institution, in that it is part of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County where the Forest Preserve District of Cook County is really an extraordinary development in terms of… Read More
What was the relationship, how did politics of the county affect, or not affect the operation of the zoo?… Read More
You talked about resources. Brookfield sits on county land. Read More