Interview 34507 – Caption Index: 168
We weren’t allowed to do, ’cause the other parks said, why, why can’t we do that for our charities?… Read More
We weren’t allowed to do, ’cause the other parks said, why, why can’t we do that for our charities?… Read More
If it’s just gonna become a cash cow and make money for Disney, it’s not gonna fly. People are questioning the motives too much. It’s gotta be, it’s gotta be something that is, has an impact that’s really beneficial to, to endangered species. So, so, so that was our first… Read More
And, and, and then that was, that was the foundation of the Disney Conservation Fund, which was very unusual because it was the only park where we were allowed to solicit donations for something other than Disney. And that was Judson Green. The head of the parks made that exception. Read More
Well, how, how, but how hard was it to sell your concept of a conservation fund to Disney?… Read More
Although at the time, there was a family of gorillas, I think it was the Tarago Zoo in Sydney that they were selling and remember that. And, and they wanted a, a lot of money. But that was a backup. We could have taken them out of Australia, but we… Read More
They, they didn’t look at it like it was a good thing to do. It was just a net to them. It was a net to them. It was like, well, you know, I guess we gotta pay ’em in some way. I said, no, you’re not buying the gorillas. Read More
And I, you know, it was a two-way street. It may have been your idea, but now, now I’m trying to remember, you know, that we would do something significant for you that would help gorillas in the wild. And because we all, in the end, we wanted to help… Read More
Well, it was the only species that we did this with. I mean, the others, a lot, most of the animals were free people just, you know, they, they, they, they were what we called surplus animals back then. So, but, but with we, I mean, we had to pay… Read More
When was it implemented before there were animals?… Read More
When the zoo opened, when Animal Kingdom opened?… Read More
He just passed away a few months ago. So as part of all of this, you had recommended this conservation fund that you wanted to do, although you had worked with Lincoln Park on this specific fund, but you wanted to have Disney have a conservation fund. Read More
Was this well received by your bosses?… Read More
Because they could use the room too. But they, they didn’t need to do it. So then we just developed a conservation fund. And so we put this amount of money into a conservation fund, a significant amount of money. And, and in return, we got Gino and two females,… Read More
If, if what what would incentivize Lincoln Park to, you know, consider doing something like this?… Read More
And he was such an amazing animal. And, you know, we talked about his history. He was born at the Rotterdam Zoo, and his mother didn’t take care of him, so they had to bottle raise him. And, and the director there, Dick Van Dam, I think it was, he… Read More
There’s Gorilla capital. And if I can make, if they, if they think it’s the best place to go, would you be okay with that?… Read More
Right. And, and then I think you, you know, you had to, you had to recommend it. And then we had to go, then we said, well, we can’t buy ’em. And, but we gotta do something here. Read More
He said yes. You know, if you, if if, because because they weren’t designated to go any place else at that point, because you hadn’t told, you hadn’t let the SSP know, I think that you had available. ’cause you, you could have kept, you know, you know, both, both… Read More
So, so then I, then I went to you guys in Lincoln Park, and I don’t know if you wanna, if, if you, you wanna tell that story?… Read More
I have to tell that story. So you, you remember it, I think better than I do. But I remember we came to visit and, well, first of all, I thought to myself the, the, the, the gorilla coordinator was a guy named Dan Wharton who worked at the Central… Read More