Yeah, that’s another good story and a fun story. Our female gorilla, Mumby I think was her name, was pregnant and this was exciting for us because it was going to be a first ever in our zoo, we’d had before that wonderful animals, we’d had Bushman the famous big… Read More
At that time, I think we felt that there’s not an issue, the numbers game is nothing to worry about. The supplies are endless and we indeed could or would work with dealers, and bring in birds, mammals, reptiles, you name it. Finally, people started recognizing the fact that it… Read More
And how did that effect and impact gorilla conservation?… Read More
Well, over a period of time, as with all things like that, you go from one side of the cycle to the other. The very first recollection I have of great ape conservation was the orangutans. The baby orangs of all the ape babies anyway are by far, in my… Read More
At that time, no. My recollection is that there weren’t that many animals being brought in, the fact that these were bona fide orphans on the export bureaucratic level, the animals were cared for by people in Africa as baby animals would or should be. And the fact that, again,… Read More
Were there objections from people for you bringing in the gorilla?… Read More
Frank was startled and genuinely upset for a moment, and then he turned to the dealer and said, “I want that animal,” and so automatically the price of that baby chimp went up 10 fold, and we ended up getting the animal. I think that’s the one we call Sam,… Read More
Bringing animals in from Africa was, again, a bureaucratic issue. You were involved with Department of Agriculture, there were certain permits required, both for export from country of origin, and import for country of destination. Paperwork seemingly took time, there was no simple way to get around the bureaucracy. And… Read More
And so whether they came to the orphan state because the mother was killed. Whether the mother, for whatever reason, abandoned the baby, in most cases we didn’t know. And that was the way that we brought back a lot of our early kids, and I established rapport with some… Read More
And what was the social climate like for the importation of gorillas at that time?… Read More
Well, I guess for me psychologically, the reptiles were by far the most challenging, because again, I wasn’t about to reach into a cage to get a rattlesnake out, or a big Python, or boa constrictor. I wasn’t comfortable working with these animals. And I had to rely entirely on… Read More
And when you’re working around animals, especially wild animals it’s combination of both. And so just as I would tell new employees at the zoo, hopefully if you’re scared of animals, you don’t belong here. If you lose a respect for that animal, someday potentially you may be sorry and… Read More
Were other animals, or groups of animals challenging, medically to take care of?… Read More
And it turned out that it’s what we call, medically a subdural hematoma. It’s a case where a blow to the head causes bleeding under the scalp, and the hematoma is not a cancer or a growth, it’s just a swelling of blood that poured out under there. And what… Read More
It was a good one. Read More
My first reaction was that here was a special little kid that needed special care, and physically in Chicago the Children’s Hospital is just a, maybe a 10-minute drive from where Lincoln Park Zoo is on the near north side of Chicago. And so I just scooped up the animal,… Read More
No, I do not remember a date. The animal was a youngster, less than a year old. Was in the cage with its parents, at least with its mother, I can’t remember if at that time the male was in there too. And for whatever reason, the keeper came running… Read More
And the question was, what to do?… Read More
And do you remember a date on that?… Read More
But in addition to that, as time went on and I needed specialized help, the veterinarians in the Chicago area were basically what I was, small animal practitioners, dogs, and cats, and assorted sorted little critters. And if we needed someone that was, say an ophthalmologist to work on the… Read More