Talking Animals

Les Schobert--zoo & captive wildlife consultant

Les Schobert, a consultant on zoos and captive wildlife with 30+ years of experience–including a 15-year tenure as General Curator of the North Carolina State Zoo & a somewhat more recent stint as Animal Collection Curator at the L.A. Zoo–discusses the key challenges and changes facing zoos now and in the years ahead, outlines the notion of zoo alternatives in the form of more expansive facilities that would foster a far better experience for the human side and animal side (using elephants as a primary example) of the equation, and more.

COMEDY CORNER: Bill Cosby’s “Dogs”
MUSIC: Jim White’s “Bluebird,” The Untouchables’ version of Herb Alpert’s “The Lonely Bull,”  instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Freebird”