Oh, I think that there’s no question that the contact was important. And I think that you develop a personal relationship with people over a period of time, and they know that they can call and you get an answer. So sure, over a period of time. Then when the… Read More
What kind of impact did your television appearances have on the zoo, in its development?… Read More
Was it important to have a continuing media presence for the zoo?… Read More
So I think that on balance, we came out on the plus side of the media issue, Mark. Read More
If I wasn’t, of course, I couldn’t. I felt that instead of having all the various professional staff and the animal care people interacting with the press, that it made a little more sense that they try to deal directly with me. And I think over the years, I found… Read More
We tried to deal openly and it paid off so that my recollections are that there are a few people in the media, and I can’t remember all their names, who had a special zoo interest. And they would come to the zoo on their own without necessarily being told… Read More
Well, I guess I can say in retrospect, I was truly fortunate. First of all, the zoo is not a separate entity. The zoo is owned and operated by the Chicago Park District, and the Park District had a full-time PR staff. So that these were people that looked after… Read More
We had an animal that was, I think, gonna go from Cleveland, I can’t remember if it was a male or female, to the Bronx Zoo in New York. And the newspapers got hold of the story and they decided to play it up, and pretty soon, next thing I… Read More
How did you define your role working with the press?… Read More
Some came from captive breeding, some had never bred. And the feeling was that this group were to tell other institutions how to move their animals around to encourage the national captive breeding program, and to minimize inbreeding. The problem with the gorilla SSP that I ran into very quickly. Read More
And how did that aid in the changing of the zoo philosophy about gorillas?… Read More
Well, it certainly was a first for me and for the gorillas, but it also was a forerunner of other species. The SSP means Species Survival Plan. And what that means is that if, for example, you’ve got two gorillas, and Joe down the road got three, and someone else… Read More
When was that?… Read More
Well, everybody likes to think of sexy animals, and a lot of times everyone thought the koala bear was an animal that was really unusual and sexy. And eventually we ended up getting some koalas, but another animal that I personally was endeared about, and excited about when I first… Read More
You served as chairman of the Gorilla SSP, you were the first chairman. Right. Read More
Was there ever an animal, or a group of animals that you wanted to have at Lincoln Park zoo, but weren’t able to acquire?… Read More
And so we proceeded to observe the animal and she had, which was a little unusual as I recall it for most of the animals, although she was young and this was her first time delivery. She had some problems, it was not a quick, easy delivery, it was over… Read More
So that’s the story, I think we named the baby Kumba because it was a 1970, would be my guess on that mark, that, that was the time of the first baby gorilla at Lincoln Park Zoo. And of course, that was just the first of a long, long line… Read More
And so he, and I, I think probably one or two of the staff, went into the cage with the animal and he was able to do a brief exam. I don’t remember that he necessarily did a proper vaginal exam because I’m not sure she would have held fast… Read More
First occurred while you were director, and that is the birth of a gorilla baby, can you tell me a little something about that?… Read More