Interview 8364 – Caption Index: 509
I’m a young zoo director and I come to you and I’m seeking advice, mentoring a little, what important piece of advice would you give me that has stuck with you throughout your career?… Read More
I’m a young zoo director and I come to you and I’m seeking advice, mentoring a little, what important piece of advice would you give me that has stuck with you throughout your career?… Read More
Well, what I think, I have to go back to my beginning. I tried to, I don’t know that I tried, I did stay with loving the animals that I work with, every day was an exciting day for me no matter how long I was working in a zoo. Read More
Is there certain things that they really should be, and I’m talking about the big zoos as well as smaller zoos, focusing on?… Read More
Well, all of those things are important in the zoo business today. All the education and that saving the planet and working in other countries as some of the majors zoos are doing. Read More
But what about at home?… Read More
Who is the most important?… Read More
How would you describe zoos today?… Read More
What direction do you think zoos should be going in in general?… Read More
Should they be hitting more saving the planet, to saving things in the wild, educating the new generation to come?… Read More
What observations have you made about today’s zoo directors as you have interacted with them, in their style, their job responsibilities, are they being forced into certain areas that are as business people or is this just part of what they have to accept if they’re in that role?… Read More
Well, yeah, I think the zoo people, zoo directors are finding themselves having to have their hand in all those pots. They have to be businessman to a point. They have to be a salesman. They have to sell their product to the community, but maybe they neglect on the… Read More
Well, perhaps the biggest problem now is finding experienced and educated staff members who will stay. Maybe they decide they wanna go on to be a zoo director. Well, that’s a goal in itself, but they may have been much better off as a curator, a very specialized curator. And… Read More
Do you mean in areas of education or conservation or research, those kinds of things?… Read More
Well, yes in those things as well, but I think when you, those words that you’re mentioning, conservation, they’re all important, but you can overdo that in favor of letting other things go. Read More
Should there be a good zoo man at charge of the zoo, put animal person, or should there be with a business person behind them or should a good business person be running the zoo and have a good animal person underneath that?… Read More
Well, I think either way it could work. However, if I were the zoo person who was not running the zoo, I would not be a very happy camper. I think in my way of thinking, experience counts. And if you’ve never taken care of an animal in a zoo,… Read More
What would you consider the largest professional problem that face US zoos today?… Read More
And if there is one, in your opinion, is there something that can be done to correct it?… Read More
Oh, yes. The best acquisition I could have ever made was the rhinos. For example, having the first rhino born in a zoo, the antelope collection, which was major and I think is still a major contribution to what’s happened in zoos over the last 30, 40 years. Those two… Read More
What skillset qualities does a zoo director need today, in your opinion, just compared to when you started?… Read More