November 13, 2024 • 29 mins
My wife and I became parents back in 2020. It’s our first and only child. Our families would ask us what we wanted or needed for her. Aside from the typical things like diapers, formula and some clothing we really couldn’t think of anything. Then my wife had the idea of a membership to the Maryland zoo in Baltimore. We figured our kiddo would love walking around to look at the animals, even though she was still too young to really understand it. Also, a membership allowed us to come and go as many times as we pleased. So, if we went and she wasn’t feeling it, we could leave and not feel like we were wasting our money.
Fast forward a few years and we still have a membership there. The zoo has become a special place for my family. It’s the place we go whenever we need to get out of the house and enjoy a nice day outside. We go year round and our daughter loves it.
The Maryland zoo in Baltimore is the nation’s third oldest zoo. It has been such a pillar for the Baltimore community for the last 150 years or so. And the zoo has become big on the world wide conservation scene. The Maryland Zoo is dedicated to conserving wildlife for future generations, and keepers often visit other spots around the globe to work on local communities.
Take the African Penguins for example. They are in crisis and could very well become extinct thanks to things like climate change and over fishing. The Maryland Zoo has been heavily involved in working to keep them alive. The zoo cares for the largest colony of African penguins in North America, and it has a strong partnership with groups in Southern Africa trying to help these beautiful animals continue their legacy.
The Maryalnd Zoo has some big changes coming up in the next couple of years that sound really exciting. I’m excited to share this conversation with Kirby Fowler…the president and CEO of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
Fast forward a few years and we still have a membership there. The zoo has become a special place for my family. It’s the place we go whenever we need to get out of the house and enjoy a nice day outside. We go year round and our daughter loves it.
The Maryland zoo in Baltimore is the nation’s third oldest zoo. It has been such a pillar for the Baltimore community for the last 150 years or so. And the zoo has become big on the world wide conservation scene. The Maryland Zoo is dedicated to conserving wildlife for future generations, and keepers often visit other spots around the globe to work on local communities.
Take the African Penguins for example. They are in crisis and could very well become extinct thanks to things like climate change and over fishing. The Maryland Zoo has been heavily involved in working to keep them alive. The zoo cares for the largest colony of African penguins in North America, and it has a strong partnership with groups in Southern Africa trying to help these beautiful animals continue their legacy.
The Maryalnd Zoo has some big changes coming up in the next couple of years that sound really exciting. I’m excited to share this conversation with Kirby Fowler…the president and CEO of the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinations is a show designed
to give people an inside or deeper look at vacation
locations around Maryland than mid Atlantic, and of course other
places as well. My hope here is to speak with
the folks that know these areas inside and out and
maybe inspire you for your next trip. My wife and
(00:24):
I became parents back in twenty twenty. It's our first
and only child. Our families would ask us what we
wanted or needed for her, and aside from the typical
things like more diapers, some baby formula, and some clothing,
we really couldn't think of anything. We felt pretty confident
about things. Then my wife had the idea of a
membership to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. We figured our
(00:44):
kiddo would love walking around to look at the animals,
you know, even though maybe she was still a little
too young to really understand it. Also, a membership allowed
us to come and go as many times as we pleased,
so if we went to the zoo and she wasn't
really feeling it, we could even not feel like we
were wasting our money. So fast forward a few years
and we still have a membership there. The zoo has
(01:04):
become a special place for my family. It's the place
we go whenever we need to get out of the
house and enjoy a nice day outside. We go year round,
and our daughter absolutely loves it. The Maryland Zoo in
Baltimore is the nation's third oldest zoo. It's been such
a pillar for the Baltimore community for the last one
hundred and fifty years or so, and the zoo has
become big on the worldwide conservation scene as well. The
(01:26):
Maryland Zoo is dedicated to conserving wildlife for future generations,
and keepers often visit other spots around the globe to
work inside local communities. Take the African penguins, for example.
They're in crisis and could very well become extinct thanks
to things like climate change and overfishing. The Maryland Zoo
has been heavily involved in working to keep them alive.
The zoo cares for the largest colony of African penguins
(01:46):
in North America, and it has a strong partnership with
groups in Southern Africa trying to help these beautiful animals
continue their legacy. The Maryland Zoo has some big changes
coming up in the next couple of years, and that
sounds really exciting to me. I'm excited to share this
conversation with Kirby Fowler, the President and CEO of the
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I hope you enjoy our chat.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, yeah, no, things are going well here. It's a
good time of year for the zoo.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, I've Actually it's kind of curious because I know
as the weather starts to get a little bit cooler,
I always wonder like does the visitation drop, do you
see an increase?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Like, how does that work for you?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It happens more.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So January and February. Really, with climate change, we're starting
to see fewer visitors in the summer. For example, this
pastoral Live, I think there were seventeen days that were
over ninety degrees and ninety as I say, nine days
over ninety five degrees, so very hot. So I think
we're going to see more interest in the fall and
(02:39):
spring and maybe in the winter than we used to.
But yeah, in the wintertime, a lot of our African
animals have to be inside, so we do drop our
prices and so attendant drops a little bit as well,
So we're trying to bridge over the seasons by bringing
in some new animals, so hopefully that'll help with.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, we're members.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
My family remembers the zoo, and I find going in
the winter to be very enjoyable because you're right. I mean,
there are a few animals you miss, given just the
climate in general, but there's usually less people and it's
much easier to navigate around. You can spend a little
more time in certain places. I always have a great time.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, this three day weekend, we probably had ten thousand people,
which is very high, which is which is fantastic. A
tipicle weekend, a strong weekend could be four thousand people
two day weekends. Yeah, but thanks for being a member.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Of course, when when my brother and sister were asking
us what a good gift was to get for like
the family or for our daughter, I was like, oh
my gosh, zoo membership.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Like get that. Let's go all out and we'll just
go to the zoo. Whenever we have a free day.
We go pretty often.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I mean it's been a minute since we have gone,
but we go fairly off and it's just such a
nice thing to get outside and walk around. And you know,
as a member too, what's great is if you go
and say, you know, my kid's a little over three,
we go and she's having a bad day. We can
leave and don't feel like we wasted our money, you
know what I mean, Like we're not. We could just
come back again and go as many times as we want.
So being a member has always been a great experience
(03:58):
for us.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
Can we keep this in the final edited piece?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yes, absolutely, very helpful.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
It's like two or three visits and you make your
money back anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I mean, it's pretty it's awesome.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
That's right. God, you are good. You know. You know
the zoo.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I do know the zoo.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I've been there once or twice, Kirby, So I know
we're trying to bring people out for the Fall and
trying to make sure people continue to go check it out.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What do you got going on here? You've got to
fall the Reasons campaign going on.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah. So we've got actually several different events coming up
in October. I think some of them will occur by
the time as a broadcast, but October Fest is one
of our.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Big events coming up.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
But more importantly, it's some of the We've got some
really cool initiatives coming up. We've just submitted for permit
to the city to build a red panda habitat. People
love red pandas it's the first new mammal with a
new habitat in.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Decades at the zoo.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We've done some great things in the past, like the
Ping and Coast project, but we already had penguins. This
is going to be the first time in decades where're
bringing the new animal and creating a new habitat. And
this is going to be in the heart of the zoo,
the historic part of the zoo, which is called Main Valley.
It was closed for seventeen years, where we're bringing it
back with some new habitats that are much better for
(05:13):
the animals than the old habitats used to do.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So, are you talking about that area like right when
you walk in the zoo and you have to walk
by all the old enclosures and everything before you get
into the main part.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Exactly. Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
So for the people who don't know, the zoo started
in eighteen seventy six, it started in a small little
area which is now the Round Cage, this historic round Cage,
and then over the years, particularly in the nineteen twenties
and thirties, these other cages were built around it. They're
sort of interesting historically, but bed for animals. Sometimes several
species were cramped into the space, small spaces. The keepers
(05:44):
really couldn't couldn't really administer the appropriate animal care through
these small spaces. So that's why my predecessors did the
right thing. They emptied it out. They moved animals to
better habitats within our zoo African Journey, for example, gorgeous
naturalistic habitats expansive great habitats for the animals, or they
(06:04):
move it to other zoos. So for seventeen years there's
historic part of the zoo, which is the central part
of the zoo, was closed to the public.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
So we're bringing it back.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
The red panels will be first, and then they'll be
followed by gibbons.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Gibbons are these things.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
They're lesser apes, but they're a lot of fun. They
swing from vines. You don't need caging for them because
if you just put in a twenty five foot mote
around their island, they don't like to swim. So when
you enter the zoo, the first thing you'll see we'll
be gibbons. You'll hear them as well, because you can
hear their call from two miles away. But you'll come
in and instead of seeing cages, you'll see gibbons straight
(06:39):
on with nothing blocking your.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
View because there's no caging. So so very very excited
about how it'll change once you enter the zoo.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think it's kind of interesting because when we first
started going to the zoo with our daughter, that part
had just been reopened, and I obviously you have plans
for the future, but for the last couple of years,
it's just been sort of a space that's largely empty.
There are some birds and there's the snow owl in
that space, but most of it is largely empty, and
I wonder what was the what was the idea to
open it back up and leave the empty historical areas there.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Well, partly it's funny and how COVID impacted a lot
of this.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Previous to COVID, when the guests came into the zoo,
they would actually leave the zoo again, get on a
shuttle and take them to another part of the zoo,
and so it was just a sort of an odd
way to enter a zoo. So when COVID struck. We
didn't know what to do with these vehicles, and we
were gonna have to wash them down every day. No
one knew everyone's watching their groceries, remember.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
That, yep, And so we wondered.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
So we mothballed those shuttles, and we said, well, let's
just open up the historic part of the zoo as
a great walkway and maybe teach people about these cages
and how they're no longer appropriate. And I sometimes here
sometimes you mean kids talking to their parents about why
these cages are not appropriate.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
So it was good from a historic perspective.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
But yeah, we added birds along the way, but it
is definitely the fastest.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Walk through the zoo, so that was one of the reasons.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
We have taken down most of the cages, so we're
anticipating the red panda habitat and the gibven habitat, so
some of that is not there as much anymore. However,
we are keeping the round cage. It's beautiful. We'll designed
in such a way that people can walk inside and
feel it was like to be in this cramp space.
But yes, so that was it was a bit of
(08:22):
a challenge just because people want to see animals, right away,
and there's prairie dogs and some other things. But that's
why we're we're moving very quickly to bring in Red
Panda to follow by Gibbons.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
What's your eta on those is, I don't know if
you mention that the Gibbons and the Red Panda, when
do you think those exhibits are going to be open?
Speaker 5 (08:37):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Well, we submitted the permit to the city for Red Panda.
Hopefully in the winter. This winter we'll get permission and
then we'll break ground in the spring and then takes
about one year to build that habitat and that'll be
followed by Gibbons the year after that. So we're hoping
one by one. It's important to have new things happening
in the zoo. We've tried different things like animatronic dinosaurs,
(08:58):
some smaller things, but this is going to be really
act and actually one thing it's not all like glamorous.
But one thing we delivered this year was a whole
new parking lot. And the reason why, the reason why
we talk about it is because there's a really there's
some really important sustainability aspects of this parking lot. There's
now a big stormwater rain tank under the parking lot
(09:19):
in the past because the terrain, the water would come
down and it would road the landscape, it would go
right into the waterways of the city and it would
bring you know, the chemicals and everything else that's in
the grass along with it. Now, when there's a stormwater event,
we'll capture the rain, wait for the storm to pass,
and then slowly let the water out after it's been
(09:40):
filtered and into then the Jones Falls, which we then
get to the inner Harbor or the Test Peak Bay.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
So that's cool.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And in addition, sorry it's geeking out over something really esoteric,
but we switched to concrete versus asphalt. And the reason
why it's important with the heat island effect. We measured
the heat of asphalt versus concrete and there's a ten
to fifteen degree drop with concrete versus asphalt. So and
(10:08):
it's by the way, it's a much smoother parking lot.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
So again, nobody ever talked about their parking lots, but
that's how he entered the zoo.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So no, it's okay because you're communications and marketing guy, Mike.
I've made a few visits down over the last year
to film some content for our station Instagram, and he
would kept harping on the parking lot. And finally I
got to experience it when it was fully open and
brand new. I think they were still painting the lines
on the day that we came in and got to
experience it. And my first two things I noticed were, Okay,
(10:34):
the smoothness of it is great because if anybody's been
to the zoo and they've had to push a wheelchair
or a stroller, you know what kind of nightmare it
was to get through that parking lot. And b it
actually felt so nice to stand on that Like we
walked from the asphalt of the roadway into the parking lot.
Now it's like it feels cooler just taking like these
few steps into the parking lot. So you're you're one
(10:55):
underd percent, right, please geek out into all you want.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Wait, I brought my daughter here back in the day.
I finally get her to fall asleep in the stroller. Yes,
And then I get to the parking lot and then
it was a lost.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Cause, Yeah, are you guys doing a great job with that?
I actually, really I really enjoy the new parking lot.
It seems like such a minuscule thing, but I love it.
But yeah, I think you're right too, going back to
something you said, like, I think as a zoo you
do have a lot of fixture elements that are going
to be there, you know, for as long as you're around, probably,
but you also do have to keep creating something new
for people to come back and see more. You know,
(11:28):
there are people that are members like myself, that like
to go and just enjoy a nice walk around the zoo,
enjoy the outdoors. I see my daughter's face light up.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
But then you have people that like, all right, I've
gone to the zoo, I've already seen the penguins.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I don't need to come back.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
So you do have to keep doing stuff to attract
them to come back for more.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
You're right, yeah, you have all those different audiences. Yeah,
but you know, one thing that.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Benefits we'd love to attract more people whose kids are
maybe aged out of the zoo, although we don't feel.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Like it should ever happen.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
But first of all, it's a gorgeous walk as you
as you noticed, but also there's studies showing it your
blood pressure drops and that you walk into a place
like our zoo, so it's just it's a wonderful experience.
It's good for your health, and you learn about animals.
And our point is to connect people to animals through
personal experiences and therefore develop empathy and also support a
(12:16):
conservation of wildlife and wild things same mild places.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
So I think that's a lesson that.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Anybody could benefit from over the years, and not just kids.
You know, listen, I get it. We are a sweet
spot for parents with young kids. But it's always a
great place to go. That's why we have these drinking
events sometimes for some of the younger folks or older
and all these different types of ways to attrack people
to the zoo because there's always something to learn.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
And I don't want to harp on the drinking events necessarily,
but we used to go. My friends and I would
go to brew at the zoo every year, one of
our favorite times in Memorial Day weekend. We'd always go
and enjoy ourselves, but we never really went in the zoo.
We'd go and we'd drink outside and never go in.
But I've noticed over the last few times that we've gone,
you've added some stops in the zoo now so people
can it's sort of to inspire folks to go in
(13:05):
the zoo walk around, but you can still grab a
beverage while you're there. And I thought that was a
very brilliant idea to inspire folks to get out of
just the festival area and go wander around and see
the animals as well. I was like, I don't know
why they didn't do this before. That's brilliant.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
But I don't mean it's a flattery.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
But you are the first interviewers who knows about the
zoo so much.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
I'm very impressed by how much you know about the zoo.
But one cool thing.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
That we've done over the past four years is to
expand those drinking events throughout the entire zoo. Now there's
the IP experiences, especially behind the scenes experiences associated with that,
so you can learn about animals WHI while you're enjoying
one of the eighty craft beers that we have in
October festival for with the zoo. But also we've started
something cool. Sorry I'm going to geek out again. Cell Phones,
(13:49):
of course, are indispensable, but also they rely on this
mineral called coal tent, which is mind in places like
the Congo or Rwanda in Africa that mining is causing
the habitat loss for TIMPs and copy and other important animals.
So what we do at these events now you can
skip that long line as you're ready to come in.
(14:09):
If he brings some foes to be recycled, because we've
got recycling program, and you skip the whole line and
we will deliver those to our partners and they will
get these minerals back into the system.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
So the mining is not as imperative.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Oh, that's really brilliant.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And actually this last year, Mike invited me to help
host Brew at the Zoo, so we got the backstage
entrance so I didn't have to go through the line.
But I'll keep that in mind for next year. Make
sure I bring an old cell phone.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
That's great, that's fine, we'll take it.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
You mentioned conservation, And over my time learning more and
working more as some of the exhibits, I got to
spend some time with the grizzly bears or with the bears,
got to spend some time with the penguins, and I
learned so much more about what you're doing worldwide through
the Maryland Zoo. I don't think I had realized how
involved the Maryland Zoo here in Baltimore, is in places
(14:58):
in Africa and in Europe, in all these different places
around the world. It's kind of fascinating to see how
far your web reaches.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, a lot of people don't know that, do youre right,
And we're trying to get the word out about that.
You know, what we learn here as a keeper vet
or even myself, we could take out to the rest
of the world and including Maryland, but we'll go out
to the Western counties to help with black bears or
other counties to assist with their animals and turtles things
like that. But internationally, we've got some really cool programs.
(15:26):
In fact, we just gave it an award to our partner
who's in Botswana, who is tracking elephants whose habitats are
starting to be depleted and they're starting to interact a
little too much with the human populations, and there's a
lot of conflict because the humans are growing food in
their farms, the elephants trample them or they'll steal of food.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
And so why have these elephants moved away? We need
to figure that out.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So we're doing some research over there just by tracking
these elephants In addition, we've got these important programs with
African penguins.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
We have the most African penguins the entire country.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Here the zoo, so we know more about African penguins
than a lot of people in Africa do.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
So we go over and we help them.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
You know, it's not for us to be colonists and
tell them what to do, and we're trying to build
up the capacity there.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
But when we get there, we know what to do.
We're setting up programs in.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
South Africa and Namibia to help with African penguins because
they're also their populations are depleting as well. There's a
chance in ten years that may long longer be wild
penguins in Africa.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was speaking
to your keepers and getting an inside look at all
the stuff that goes on with the penguins there, and
it's fascinating to hear, I mean sad to hear what's
happening to them, but also fascinating to understand the research
behind knowing all of that. Like they were talking about
the way the water flows in the Atlantic and how
it's changed and the warmth of the water is changing,
how they hunt. They were even showing me some things
(16:54):
in the exhibit at the Maryland Zoo that were sort
of like I don't know the right word for, but
like sort of domiciles. They were prototype domiciles for the
penguins that they were testing out because the weather is
getting warmer, they need places to make sure they can
stay and stay cool. And I was like, look, here's
this research happening right here in front of us, right
in our Maryland Zoo.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
That's a great point.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
In fact, one of our senior keepers is now into
maybe and he's trying to build up the program there,
and he knows two things about the African penguins. The
young African penguins, they only know how to eat certain
types of fish, and they need to adapt to eat
squid or some other things because there's so much competition
for that food. Now, one of them being a seal.
There's this one seal who's decimating this entire island of
(17:37):
penguins because of this competition for food. So that's why
it's important when you're eating fish.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
There's important.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
You know, there's good way websites about sustainable fishing and
if people care about this, and I hope they do.
They could go to these websites and determine, like what
is the best seafood to eat that sustainably you know,
developed because there's so much competition now, just not amongst humans,
but with the animals too.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Shifting gears for a second, what's your favorite exhibit when
you're walking around the zoo. I know you're a busy guy,
but when you take a time, take time to walk
around the zoo, what is your favorite spot to check out?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Well, Penguan Coast is just phenomenally won awards when it
was opened in twenty fourteen, but I just say it's
a maybe contrast to Main Valley where the historic cages
were with the new So I would first show people
some of these older cages and then get to the
African journey.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
And after you pass Flamingo, you turn a corner. You
can see this open.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Area where the rhinos are ostrich and zebras, and it
reveals itself just by turning the corner and all of
a sudden there's this beautiful open area.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
And I say, that's the difference. That's what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Now, and there's always ways that we can improve, but
certainly it's a vast improvement over the way humans treated
animals and zoos many many years.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I've been lucky because I've been able to see sort
of behind the scenes and I've been able to talk
to the keepers directly and at something that not a
lot of people get a chance to see. And I
have to give a shout out to all of the
people that work behind the scenes at the zoo, because
they really go I mean, I guess to me, they
go above and beyond what you would expect. I mean,
just the things they understand about keeping the animals active,
(19:15):
making sure they're playing, making sure they're not just you know,
getting hand fed food. They're still working to get their
food in a lot of cases, just the different things
in each exhibit that they need for the animals. They
tailor everything so well to these animals. It really it
blows my mind hearing them talk about just they know
all these little nuances.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, people probably don't understand that we're a nonprofit and
so we can to pay our employees. But a lot
of these keepers, you know, they're sacrificing because of the
love of animals, and they absolutely love these animals. They're
passionate about it. They they take these skills, like I said,
to other parts of the world as well. We try
to get them out front and center because they are
(19:54):
some of the best people I've worked with. We have
keeper chats which I encourage people to just pain into
to get a piece.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Was like to be a keeper.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I could talk, especially I want to bad animals, But
when people hear from a keeper, it sells itself, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
But I have to say too, giving you some credit here.
You and Mike, your communications and marketing guy, Mike, you
both know so much more about the zoo than what
I generally experience talking to CEOs and marketing people of companies.
And I don't want to talk poorly about anybody else
I've spoken with, but you guys are so in tune.
For only just a few short years on the job
there too, you know so much about what's going on there.
(20:29):
I speak with people sometimes and I'm like, do you
even know where you work? Like you run a company,
but you have no idea what you're talking about. You
guys are so on top of it there. It's fascinating
to me how much you know about what's going on
with all elements of the zoo.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Well, thank you for saying that in some ways, it's
easy because it is to use the word fasting, it's fascinating.
It is fascinating to be here and I again, I
learned something new every day and to be surrounded by
these people who care about the world, it just gives
you a whole big boost of energy. But thank you
were saying that. But it's easy.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
So I know you've got a couple of new attractions
coming we talk about the Gibbons in the Red pandas well.
First of all, before we step into this, what's the
best place for able to go to find out more information,
get their tickets, plan their visit.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Where should they go?
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Our website's number one Maryland Zoo dot org, Maryland Zoo
dot org, I pep. You can follow us on Instagram
as well as TikTok and some of our other channels
as well, but Facebook is actually a very good way
to connect with us as well.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
But the website should have everything people deep you.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Got the exhibits coming in the two we just mentioned
the Gibbons and the Red pandas what else is coming
up here in the next couple of years that we
can be excited about.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Well, we are looking to add more to it's this
place called Maryland Wilderness.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
You probably know it.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Many people do not because they might go straight to
African Journey because there's some of the more popular charismatic animals.
But Maryland Wilderness is very important because it teaches people
that they're important by adversary to biodiversity in their backyard.
I think have these beautiful honors, bobcats, bats, we got reptiles, amphibians.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
A lot of good things at Maryland Wilderness.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
But there's also a decent amount of space there, so
it's part of a master plan. It's gonna be several
years down the road, but I love this idea to
bring in red wolves. These are beautiful animals that can
be that can be bred here and released into the
into the wild. Oftentimes you can't do that because the
(22:26):
animals imprint on humans and so they can never go
back into the wild. But this particular species can be
in the back part of Maryland Wilderness and will ultimately
be released into the wild, probably in North Carolina, South Carolina.
But it's just one of the things we love doing
that part of our job. We have swans here, beautiful
trumpeter swans. Almost every year knock on wood they have
(22:47):
what they call the babies, are called signets, and those
babies are released into the wild every year.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
It's funny, it's not like humans.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know, the minute these swans have their babies six
months later than up and out. You know, move on,
move on six months because they get fully grown into
six months.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
It's amazing how quickly birds grow.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But then we can release them into the wild, and
right now I think we're doing that. We've done it
in Oregon and Idaho and other places. So whenever we
can bread animals and release them to the wild, that
makes our day.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
That's a big part of what you do too.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And I think I was telling one of my coworkers
a few months back when I was going to film
some video, she gave me a weird sort of attitude
about working.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
With the zoos. She's like, I don't really like zoos.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
And I think she has this impression that what goes
on to the zoo is you're trapping animals, and I don't.
That's not what you guys do, and that's not what
you do at the Maryland Zoo. In fact, I know
a lot of the animals you're working to either, like
you just mentioned, put them back out into the world,
or you're trying to rescue an animal that otherwise would
not have survived in the wild. I think that was
the issue with the bears, as they wouldn't have survived
they had lost their parent. So you brought them in.
(23:50):
You're giving them a chance to live a life that
they wouldn't have lived otherwise. And I think that's something
that people that have that negative view of zoos need
to understand that you're not You're doing the good things.
You're doing the positive things with the animals.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah, you're right, there are some bad zoos out there,
but the good zoos are the ones that receive accreditation.
We are credited by the Associations Zoos and Aquariums and
that's the Blue Ribbon standard. And there's so much care
that goes into People are betting over backwards to care
for these animals. But for example, we don't import animals
from Africa other places.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
They come from other zoos.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
For the most part, we have as you point out,
we've worked with the state and other states to help
with their animals.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
Most recently we saved an honor in Hartford County. We
were called up by the state.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He said Hey, this baby otter was separated from her
mother and we can't find her mother.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Can you help raise it?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And we said sure, as we brought her in and
now she's going to live a happy life and it'll
be a zoo because otters.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Do imprint very quickly in humans, so.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
We were hoping we could release them for the while,
but it didn't happen. But she'll be she'll find a
great home. I think she's already there in Virginia. So
there's ways that we were saving out animals and and
and helping them survive and also build up populations.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
We're building up populations and turtles in Maryland as well.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
So yeah, there's many ways. I get some people have
the old views of zoos in their head. Unfortunately there's
one or a few, one or two roadside zoos that
could probably fall into that category, but not a zoo
like ours. The the animals are receiving operable care, they're
not being taken from the wild.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And you know, there's just they're they're leading strong lives
and you know what, they're educating us and actually, if
we can use them as an animal ambassadors to build
empathy and like a kid comes in Yeah, very few
people will have the resources to be able to go
to Africa to.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
See these animals.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
But if you see some here and realize, hey, that's
worth saving, that's a that's a good thing to teach
a kid. I think my own daughter, who's a volunteer
at the zoo before I ever started here. She's a
volunteer and now she's an environmental studies major and trying
to help change the world in terms of climate climate issues.
So it's important for us to be able to convey
these messages here. And you just again, you can't afford
(26:07):
to send everybody over to Africa, to Tanzania to go
on a safari to tease that lesson.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
No, I think it's great. I think it's great what
you're doing. And also at the zoo too, I want
to touch on this before we wrap things up. The
intangibles too, Like you've got the exhibits, you've got the animals,
you've got the knowledgeable keepers, but you also have really
great food options there, food and drink, and I think
even too, like you just added that four D experience
where you put the VR glasses on, and like you've
got some other things that are there that are also
(26:32):
really fun to experience. My daughter loves the Merry go Round.
We have to do that at least two or three
times every time we go the train ride. You've really
you've added a bunch of different things in there. That's
not just walking around looking at animals. You've got other
experiences for people to get in there and be active.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, I thank you for being with the carousel because
we recently have one price includes carousel and train, unlimited
rides in both cases, so that hopefully helps members and
other So it does your kid asks for three rides
around the carousel, you're not going to be losing a
lot of money.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
But yeah, we try to get mix things up.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
The VR experience is important because again I mentioned not
being able to take her ready to Africa. But now
there's this great VR experience that takes you to the
savannahs in Tanzania and Kenya, so you experienced the great
migration of these beautiful animals and you feel like you're there,
So you know, VR it doesn't take the place of
an actual experience, however, it gets you close. So yeah,
(27:29):
you have to keep on mixing things up, and that's
why we get some new habitats. Some new animals. I
should mention Ivy, this great chimp we have. It's a
chimp baby. She was born in June. Right now she's
being carefully groomed, but hopefully she'll be able to be
seen by the public soon. There's one of the cutest
(27:50):
things that's seeing a baby chimp. So people will be
able to see her probably in a month or so.
They'll be able to see her out in the habitat.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh, that's great. I love that.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Last time I was there, there were two younger chimps
that were wrestling with each other and it was just
the talk of the whole room. Everybody was loving this
experience watching them wrestle and have fun out there in
the grass in the gym section.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
It was so great.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Yeah, chips are compelling animals to watch. Yeah, you never know,
you never know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Again, that's very true. That's very true.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Well, Kirby, let's get wrap this up again here, But
one more time, where can people go if they want
to find out some information, they want to plan their trip,
get their tickets, all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Sure, our website Maryland Zoo dot org. That's the best
place to go.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Perfect Kirby Fowler President and CEO of the Maryland Zoo
in Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Thank you so much for your time. Good to see
you and hopefully I'll be down there soon to see
you again.
Speaker 5 (28:37):
And thank you for loving the zoo.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
No big thank you to Kirby Fowler from the Maryland
Zoo for his time and for all of his efforts
to keep growing the zoo and its impact. If you
want to find out more info about the Maryland Zoo
in Baltimore, you can find it at Maryland Zoo dot org.
And thank you to all of you for listening to
delightful destinations this week. Until next time, be well,
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre. Delightful Destinations is a show designed
to give people an inside or deeper look at vacation
locations around Maryland than mid Atlantic, and of course other
places as well. My hope here is to speak with
the folks that know these areas inside and out and
maybe inspire you for your next trip. My wife and
(00:24):
I became parents back in twenty twenty. It's our first
and only child. Our families would ask us what we
wanted or needed for her, and aside from the typical
things like more diapers, some baby formula, and some clothing,
we really couldn't think of anything. We felt pretty confident
about things. Then my wife had the idea of a
membership to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. We figured our
(00:44):
kiddo would love walking around to look at the animals,
you know, even though maybe she was still a little
too young to really understand it. Also, a membership allowed
us to come and go as many times as we pleased,
so if we went to the zoo and she wasn't
really feeling it, we could even not feel like we
were wasting our money. So fast forward a few years
and we still have a membership there. The zoo has
(01:04):
become a special place for my family. It's the place
we go whenever we need to get out of the
house and enjoy a nice day outside. We go year round,
and our daughter absolutely loves it. The Maryland Zoo in
Baltimore is the nation's third oldest zoo. It's been such
a pillar for the Baltimore community for the last one
hundred and fifty years or so, and the zoo has
become big on the worldwide conservation scene as well. The
(01:26):
Maryland Zoo is dedicated to conserving wildlife for future generations,
and keepers often visit other spots around the globe to
work inside local communities. Take the African penguins, for example.
They're in crisis and could very well become extinct thanks
to things like climate change and overfishing. The Maryland Zoo
has been heavily involved in working to keep them alive.
The zoo cares for the largest colony of African penguins
(01:46):
in North America, and it has a strong partnership with
groups in Southern Africa trying to help these beautiful animals
continue their legacy. The Maryland Zoo has some big changes
coming up in the next couple of years, and that
sounds really exciting to me. I'm excited to share this
conversation with Kirby Fowler, the President and CEO of the
Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I hope you enjoy our chat.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Yeah, yeah, no, things are going well here. It's a
good time of year for the zoo.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Yeah, I've Actually it's kind of curious because I know
as the weather starts to get a little bit cooler,
I always wonder like does the visitation drop, do you
see an increase?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Like, how does that work for you?
Speaker 5 (02:18):
It happens more.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
So January and February. Really, with climate change, we're starting
to see fewer visitors in the summer. For example, this
pastoral Live, I think there were seventeen days that were
over ninety degrees and ninety as I say, nine days
over ninety five degrees, so very hot. So I think
we're going to see more interest in the fall and
(02:39):
spring and maybe in the winter than we used to.
But yeah, in the wintertime, a lot of our African
animals have to be inside, so we do drop our
prices and so attendant drops a little bit as well,
So we're trying to bridge over the seasons by bringing
in some new animals, so hopefully that'll help with.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, we're members.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
My family remembers the zoo, and I find going in
the winter to be very enjoyable because you're right. I mean,
there are a few animals you miss, given just the
climate in general, but there's usually less people and it's
much easier to navigate around. You can spend a little
more time in certain places. I always have a great time.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, this three day weekend, we probably had ten thousand people,
which is very high, which is which is fantastic. A
tipicle weekend, a strong weekend could be four thousand people
two day weekends. Yeah, but thanks for being a member.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Of course, when when my brother and sister were asking
us what a good gift was to get for like
the family or for our daughter, I was like, oh
my gosh, zoo membership.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Like get that. Let's go all out and we'll just
go to the zoo. Whenever we have a free day.
We go pretty often.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I mean it's been a minute since we have gone,
but we go fairly off and it's just such a
nice thing to get outside and walk around. And you know,
as a member too, what's great is if you go
and say, you know, my kid's a little over three,
we go and she's having a bad day. We can
leave and don't feel like we wasted our money, you
know what I mean, Like we're not. We could just
come back again and go as many times as we want.
So being a member has always been a great experience
(03:58):
for us.
Speaker 5 (03:59):
Can we keep this in the final edited piece?
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yes, absolutely, very helpful.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
It's like two or three visits and you make your
money back anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I mean, it's pretty it's awesome.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
That's right. God, you are good. You know. You know
the zoo.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I do know the zoo.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I've been there once or twice, Kirby, So I know
we're trying to bring people out for the Fall and
trying to make sure people continue to go check it out.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
What do you got going on here? You've got to
fall the Reasons campaign going on.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Yeah. So we've got actually several different events coming up
in October. I think some of them will occur by
the time as a broadcast, but October Fest is one
of our.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Big events coming up.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
But more importantly, it's some of the We've got some
really cool initiatives coming up. We've just submitted for permit
to the city to build a red panda habitat. People
love red pandas it's the first new mammal with a
new habitat in.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Decades at the zoo.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
We've done some great things in the past, like the
Ping and Coast project, but we already had penguins. This
is going to be the first time in decades where're
bringing the new animal and creating a new habitat. And
this is going to be in the heart of the zoo,
the historic part of the zoo, which is called Main Valley.
It was closed for seventeen years, where we're bringing it
back with some new habitats that are much better for
(05:13):
the animals than the old habitats used to do.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
So, are you talking about that area like right when
you walk in the zoo and you have to walk
by all the old enclosures and everything before you get
into the main part.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Exactly. Yes.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
So for the people who don't know, the zoo started
in eighteen seventy six, it started in a small little
area which is now the Round Cage, this historic round Cage,
and then over the years, particularly in the nineteen twenties
and thirties, these other cages were built around it. They're
sort of interesting historically, but bed for animals. Sometimes several
species were cramped into the space, small spaces. The keepers
(05:44):
really couldn't couldn't really administer the appropriate animal care through
these small spaces. So that's why my predecessors did the
right thing. They emptied it out. They moved animals to
better habitats within our zoo African Journey, for example, gorgeous
naturalistic habitats expansive great habitats for the animals, or they
(06:04):
move it to other zoos. So for seventeen years there's
historic part of the zoo, which is the central part
of the zoo, was closed to the public.
Speaker 5 (06:11):
So we're bringing it back.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
The red panels will be first, and then they'll be
followed by gibbons.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
Gibbons are these things.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
They're lesser apes, but they're a lot of fun. They
swing from vines. You don't need caging for them because
if you just put in a twenty five foot mote
around their island, they don't like to swim. So when
you enter the zoo, the first thing you'll see we'll
be gibbons. You'll hear them as well, because you can
hear their call from two miles away. But you'll come
in and instead of seeing cages, you'll see gibbons straight
(06:39):
on with nothing blocking your.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
View because there's no caging. So so very very excited
about how it'll change once you enter the zoo.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
I think it's kind of interesting because when we first
started going to the zoo with our daughter, that part
had just been reopened, and I obviously you have plans
for the future, but for the last couple of years,
it's just been sort of a space that's largely empty.
There are some birds and there's the snow owl in
that space, but most of it is largely empty, and
I wonder what was the what was the idea to
open it back up and leave the empty historical areas there.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
Well, partly it's funny and how COVID impacted a lot
of this.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Previous to COVID, when the guests came into the zoo,
they would actually leave the zoo again, get on a
shuttle and take them to another part of the zoo,
and so it was just a sort of an odd
way to enter a zoo. So when COVID struck. We
didn't know what to do with these vehicles, and we
were gonna have to wash them down every day. No
one knew everyone's watching their groceries, remember.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
That, yep, And so we wondered.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
So we mothballed those shuttles, and we said, well, let's
just open up the historic part of the zoo as
a great walkway and maybe teach people about these cages
and how they're no longer appropriate. And I sometimes here
sometimes you mean kids talking to their parents about why
these cages are not appropriate.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
So it was good from a historic perspective.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
But yeah, we added birds along the way, but it
is definitely the fastest.
Speaker 5 (07:57):
Walk through the zoo, so that was one of the reasons.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
We have taken down most of the cages, so we're
anticipating the red panda habitat and the gibven habitat, so
some of that is not there as much anymore. However,
we are keeping the round cage. It's beautiful. We'll designed
in such a way that people can walk inside and
feel it was like to be in this cramp space.
But yes, so that was it was a bit of
(08:22):
a challenge just because people want to see animals, right away,
and there's prairie dogs and some other things. But that's
why we're we're moving very quickly to bring in Red
Panda to follow by Gibbons.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
What's your eta on those is, I don't know if
you mention that the Gibbons and the Red Panda, when
do you think those exhibits are going to be open?
Speaker 5 (08:37):
Sure?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
Well, we submitted the permit to the city for Red Panda.
Hopefully in the winter. This winter we'll get permission and
then we'll break ground in the spring and then takes
about one year to build that habitat and that'll be
followed by Gibbons the year after that. So we're hoping
one by one. It's important to have new things happening
in the zoo. We've tried different things like animatronic dinosaurs,
(08:58):
some smaller things, but this is going to be really
act and actually one thing it's not all like glamorous.
But one thing we delivered this year was a whole
new parking lot. And the reason why, the reason why
we talk about it is because there's a really there's
some really important sustainability aspects of this parking lot. There's
now a big stormwater rain tank under the parking lot
(09:19):
in the past because the terrain, the water would come
down and it would road the landscape, it would go
right into the waterways of the city and it would
bring you know, the chemicals and everything else that's in
the grass along with it. Now, when there's a stormwater event,
we'll capture the rain, wait for the storm to pass,
and then slowly let the water out after it's been
(09:40):
filtered and into then the Jones Falls, which we then
get to the inner Harbor or the Test Peak Bay.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
So that's cool.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
And in addition, sorry it's geeking out over something really esoteric,
but we switched to concrete versus asphalt. And the reason
why it's important with the heat island effect. We measured
the heat of asphalt versus concrete and there's a ten
to fifteen degree drop with concrete versus asphalt. So and
(10:08):
it's by the way, it's a much smoother parking lot.
Speaker 5 (10:10):
It's fun.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
So again, nobody ever talked about their parking lots, but
that's how he entered the zoo.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
So no, it's okay because you're communications and marketing guy, Mike.
I've made a few visits down over the last year
to film some content for our station Instagram, and he
would kept harping on the parking lot. And finally I
got to experience it when it was fully open and
brand new. I think they were still painting the lines
on the day that we came in and got to
experience it. And my first two things I noticed were, Okay,
(10:34):
the smoothness of it is great because if anybody's been
to the zoo and they've had to push a wheelchair
or a stroller, you know what kind of nightmare it
was to get through that parking lot. And b it
actually felt so nice to stand on that Like we
walked from the asphalt of the roadway into the parking lot.
Now it's like it feels cooler just taking like these
few steps into the parking lot. So you're you're one
(10:55):
underd percent, right, please geek out into all you want.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
Wait, I brought my daughter here back in the day.
I finally get her to fall asleep in the stroller. Yes,
And then I get to the parking lot and then
it was a lost.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
Cause, Yeah, are you guys doing a great job with that?
I actually, really I really enjoy the new parking lot.
It seems like such a minuscule thing, but I love it.
But yeah, I think you're right too, going back to
something you said, like, I think as a zoo you
do have a lot of fixture elements that are going
to be there, you know, for as long as you're around, probably,
but you also do have to keep creating something new
for people to come back and see more. You know,
(11:28):
there are people that are members like myself, that like
to go and just enjoy a nice walk around the zoo,
enjoy the outdoors. I see my daughter's face light up.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
But then you have people that like, all right, I've
gone to the zoo, I've already seen the penguins.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
I don't need to come back.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
So you do have to keep doing stuff to attract
them to come back for more.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
You're right, yeah, you have all those different audiences. Yeah,
but you know, one thing that.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Benefits we'd love to attract more people whose kids are
maybe aged out of the zoo, although we don't feel.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Like it should ever happen.
Speaker 3 (11:55):
But first of all, it's a gorgeous walk as you
as you noticed, but also there's studies showing it your
blood pressure drops and that you walk into a place
like our zoo, so it's just it's a wonderful experience.
It's good for your health, and you learn about animals.
And our point is to connect people to animals through
personal experiences and therefore develop empathy and also support a
(12:16):
conservation of wildlife and wild things same mild places.
Speaker 5 (12:21):
So I think that's a lesson that.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Anybody could benefit from over the years, and not just kids.
You know, listen, I get it. We are a sweet
spot for parents with young kids. But it's always a
great place to go. That's why we have these drinking
events sometimes for some of the younger folks or older
and all these different types of ways to attrack people
to the zoo because there's always something to learn.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
And I don't want to harp on the drinking events necessarily,
but we used to go. My friends and I would
go to brew at the zoo every year, one of
our favorite times in Memorial Day weekend. We'd always go
and enjoy ourselves, but we never really went in the zoo.
We'd go and we'd drink outside and never go in.
But I've noticed over the last few times that we've gone,
you've added some stops in the zoo now so people
can it's sort of to inspire folks to go in
(13:05):
the zoo walk around, but you can still grab a
beverage while you're there. And I thought that was a
very brilliant idea to inspire folks to get out of
just the festival area and go wander around and see
the animals as well. I was like, I don't know
why they didn't do this before. That's brilliant.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
But I don't mean it's a flattery.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
But you are the first interviewers who knows about the
zoo so much.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
I'm very impressed by how much you know about the zoo.
But one cool thing.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
That we've done over the past four years is to
expand those drinking events throughout the entire zoo. Now there's
the IP experiences, especially behind the scenes experiences associated with that,
so you can learn about animals WHI while you're enjoying
one of the eighty craft beers that we have in
October festival for with the zoo. But also we've started
something cool. Sorry I'm going to geek out again. Cell Phones,
(13:49):
of course, are indispensable, but also they rely on this
mineral called coal tent, which is mind in places like
the Congo or Rwanda in Africa that mining is causing
the habitat loss for TIMPs and copy and other important animals.
So what we do at these events now you can
skip that long line as you're ready to come in.
(14:09):
If he brings some foes to be recycled, because we've
got recycling program, and you skip the whole line and
we will deliver those to our partners and they will
get these minerals back into the system.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
So the mining is not as imperative.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Oh, that's really brilliant.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
And actually this last year, Mike invited me to help
host Brew at the Zoo, so we got the backstage
entrance so I didn't have to go through the line.
But I'll keep that in mind for next year. Make
sure I bring an old cell phone.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
That's great, that's fine, we'll take it.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
You mentioned conservation, And over my time learning more and
working more as some of the exhibits, I got to
spend some time with the grizzly bears or with the bears,
got to spend some time with the penguins, and I
learned so much more about what you're doing worldwide through
the Maryland Zoo. I don't think I had realized how
involved the Maryland Zoo here in Baltimore, is in places
(14:58):
in Africa and in Europe, in all these different places
around the world. It's kind of fascinating to see how
far your web reaches.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Yeah, a lot of people don't know that, do youre right,
And we're trying to get the word out about that.
You know, what we learn here as a keeper vet
or even myself, we could take out to the rest
of the world and including Maryland, but we'll go out
to the Western counties to help with black bears or
other counties to assist with their animals and turtles things
like that. But internationally, we've got some really cool programs.
(15:26):
In fact, we just gave it an award to our partner
who's in Botswana, who is tracking elephants whose habitats are
starting to be depleted and they're starting to interact a
little too much with the human populations, and there's a
lot of conflict because the humans are growing food in
their farms, the elephants trample them or they'll steal of food.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
And so why have these elephants moved away? We need
to figure that out.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
So we're doing some research over there just by tracking
these elephants In addition, we've got these important programs with
African penguins.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
We have the most African penguins the entire country.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Here the zoo, so we know more about African penguins
than a lot of people in Africa do.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
So we go over and we help them.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
You know, it's not for us to be colonists and
tell them what to do, and we're trying to build
up the capacity there.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
But when we get there, we know what to do.
We're setting up programs in.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
South Africa and Namibia to help with African penguins because
they're also their populations are depleting as well. There's a
chance in ten years that may long longer be wild
penguins in Africa.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Yeah, I remember hearing about that when I was speaking
to your keepers and getting an inside look at all
the stuff that goes on with the penguins there, and
it's fascinating to hear, I mean sad to hear what's
happening to them, but also fascinating to understand the research
behind knowing all of that. Like they were talking about
the way the water flows in the Atlantic and how
it's changed and the warmth of the water is changing,
how they hunt. They were even showing me some things
(16:54):
in the exhibit at the Maryland Zoo that were sort
of like I don't know the right word for, but
like sort of domiciles. They were prototype domiciles for the
penguins that they were testing out because the weather is
getting warmer, they need places to make sure they can
stay and stay cool. And I was like, look, here's
this research happening right here in front of us, right
in our Maryland Zoo.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
That's a great point.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
In fact, one of our senior keepers is now into
maybe and he's trying to build up the program there,
and he knows two things about the African penguins. The
young African penguins, they only know how to eat certain
types of fish, and they need to adapt to eat
squid or some other things because there's so much competition
for that food. Now, one of them being a seal.
There's this one seal who's decimating this entire island of
(17:37):
penguins because of this competition for food. So that's why
it's important when you're eating fish.
Speaker 5 (17:43):
There's important.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
You know, there's good way websites about sustainable fishing and
if people care about this, and I hope they do.
They could go to these websites and determine, like what
is the best seafood to eat that sustainably you know,
developed because there's so much competition now, just not amongst humans,
but with the animals too.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
Shifting gears for a second, what's your favorite exhibit when
you're walking around the zoo. I know you're a busy guy,
but when you take a time, take time to walk
around the zoo, what is your favorite spot to check out?
Speaker 3 (18:14):
Well, Penguan Coast is just phenomenally won awards when it
was opened in twenty fourteen, but I just say it's
a maybe contrast to Main Valley where the historic cages
were with the new So I would first show people
some of these older cages and then get to the
African journey.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
And after you pass Flamingo, you turn a corner. You
can see this open.
Speaker 3 (18:35):
Area where the rhinos are ostrich and zebras, and it
reveals itself just by turning the corner and all of
a sudden there's this beautiful open area.
Speaker 5 (18:44):
And I say, that's the difference. That's what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Now, and there's always ways that we can improve, but
certainly it's a vast improvement over the way humans treated
animals and zoos many many years.
Speaker 4 (18:54):
I've been lucky because I've been able to see sort
of behind the scenes and I've been able to talk
to the keepers directly and at something that not a
lot of people get a chance to see. And I
have to give a shout out to all of the
people that work behind the scenes at the zoo, because
they really go I mean, I guess to me, they
go above and beyond what you would expect. I mean,
just the things they understand about keeping the animals active,
(19:15):
making sure they're playing, making sure they're not just you know,
getting hand fed food. They're still working to get their
food in a lot of cases, just the different things
in each exhibit that they need for the animals. They
tailor everything so well to these animals. It really it
blows my mind hearing them talk about just they know
all these little nuances.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Yeah, people probably don't understand that we're a nonprofit and
so we can to pay our employees. But a lot
of these keepers, you know, they're sacrificing because of the
love of animals, and they absolutely love these animals. They're
passionate about it. They they take these skills, like I said,
to other parts of the world as well. We try
to get them out front and center because they are
(19:54):
some of the best people I've worked with. We have
keeper chats which I encourage people to just pain into
to get a piece.
Speaker 5 (20:01):
Was like to be a keeper.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
I could talk, especially I want to bad animals, But
when people hear from a keeper, it sells itself, you know.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
But I have to say too, giving you some credit here.
You and Mike, your communications and marketing guy, Mike, you
both know so much more about the zoo than what
I generally experience talking to CEOs and marketing people of companies.
And I don't want to talk poorly about anybody else
I've spoken with, but you guys are so in tune.
For only just a few short years on the job
there too, you know so much about what's going on there.
(20:29):
I speak with people sometimes and I'm like, do you
even know where you work? Like you run a company,
but you have no idea what you're talking about. You
guys are so on top of it there. It's fascinating
to me how much you know about what's going on
with all elements of the zoo.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Well, thank you for saying that in some ways, it's
easy because it is to use the word fasting, it's fascinating.
It is fascinating to be here and I again, I
learned something new every day and to be surrounded by
these people who care about the world, it just gives
you a whole big boost of energy. But thank you
were saying that. But it's easy.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
So I know you've got a couple of new attractions
coming we talk about the Gibbons in the Red pandas well.
First of all, before we step into this, what's the
best place for able to go to find out more information,
get their tickets, plan their visit.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Where should they go?
Speaker 3 (21:14):
Our website's number one Maryland Zoo dot org, Maryland Zoo
dot org, I pep. You can follow us on Instagram
as well as TikTok and some of our other channels
as well, but Facebook is actually a very good way
to connect with us as well.
Speaker 5 (21:27):
But the website should have everything people deep you.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Got the exhibits coming in the two we just mentioned
the Gibbons and the Red pandas what else is coming
up here in the next couple of years that we
can be excited about.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Well, we are looking to add more to it's this
place called Maryland Wilderness.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
You probably know it.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
Many people do not because they might go straight to
African Journey because there's some of the more popular charismatic animals.
But Maryland Wilderness is very important because it teaches people
that they're important by adversary to biodiversity in their backyard.
I think have these beautiful honors, bobcats, bats, we got reptiles, amphibians.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
A lot of good things at Maryland Wilderness.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
But there's also a decent amount of space there, so
it's part of a master plan. It's gonna be several
years down the road, but I love this idea to
bring in red wolves. These are beautiful animals that can
be that can be bred here and released into the
into the wild. Oftentimes you can't do that because the
(22:26):
animals imprint on humans and so they can never go
back into the wild. But this particular species can be
in the back part of Maryland Wilderness and will ultimately
be released into the wild, probably in North Carolina, South Carolina.
But it's just one of the things we love doing
that part of our job. We have swans here, beautiful
trumpeter swans. Almost every year knock on wood they have
(22:47):
what they call the babies, are called signets, and those
babies are released into the wild every year.
Speaker 5 (22:54):
It's funny, it's not like humans.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
You know, the minute these swans have their babies six
months later than up and out. You know, move on,
move on six months because they get fully grown into
six months.
Speaker 5 (23:04):
It's amazing how quickly birds grow.
Speaker 3 (23:06):
But then we can release them into the wild, and
right now I think we're doing that. We've done it
in Oregon and Idaho and other places. So whenever we
can bread animals and release them to the wild, that
makes our day.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
That's a big part of what you do too.
Speaker 4 (23:20):
And I think I was telling one of my coworkers
a few months back when I was going to film
some video, she gave me a weird sort of attitude
about working.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
With the zoos. She's like, I don't really like zoos.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
And I think she has this impression that what goes
on to the zoo is you're trapping animals, and I don't.
That's not what you guys do, and that's not what
you do at the Maryland Zoo. In fact, I know
a lot of the animals you're working to either, like
you just mentioned, put them back out into the world,
or you're trying to rescue an animal that otherwise would
not have survived in the wild. I think that was
the issue with the bears, as they wouldn't have survived
they had lost their parent. So you brought them in.
(23:50):
You're giving them a chance to live a life that
they wouldn't have lived otherwise. And I think that's something
that people that have that negative view of zoos need
to understand that you're not You're doing the good things.
You're doing the positive things with the animals.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
Yeah, you're right, there are some bad zoos out there,
but the good zoos are the ones that receive accreditation.
We are credited by the Associations Zoos and Aquariums and
that's the Blue Ribbon standard. And there's so much care
that goes into People are betting over backwards to care
for these animals. But for example, we don't import animals
from Africa other places.
Speaker 5 (24:24):
They come from other zoos.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
For the most part, we have as you point out,
we've worked with the state and other states to help
with their animals.
Speaker 5 (24:31):
Most recently we saved an honor in Hartford County. We
were called up by the state.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
He said Hey, this baby otter was separated from her
mother and we can't find her mother.
Speaker 5 (24:40):
Can you help raise it?
Speaker 3 (24:41):
And we said sure, as we brought her in and
now she's going to live a happy life and it'll
be a zoo because otters.
Speaker 5 (24:48):
Do imprint very quickly in humans, so.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
We were hoping we could release them for the while,
but it didn't happen. But she'll be she'll find a
great home. I think she's already there in Virginia. So
there's ways that we were saving out animals and and
and helping them survive and also build up populations.
Speaker 5 (25:05):
We're building up populations and turtles in Maryland as well.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
So yeah, there's many ways. I get some people have
the old views of zoos in their head. Unfortunately there's
one or a few, one or two roadside zoos that
could probably fall into that category, but not a zoo
like ours. The the animals are receiving operable care, they're
not being taken from the wild.
Speaker 5 (25:27):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
And you know, there's just they're they're leading strong lives
and you know what, they're educating us and actually, if
we can use them as an animal ambassadors to build
empathy and like a kid comes in Yeah, very few
people will have the resources to be able to go
to Africa to.
Speaker 5 (25:43):
See these animals.
Speaker 3 (25:44):
But if you see some here and realize, hey, that's
worth saving, that's a that's a good thing to teach
a kid. I think my own daughter, who's a volunteer
at the zoo before I ever started here. She's a
volunteer and now she's an environmental studies major and trying
to help change the world in terms of climate climate issues.
So it's important for us to be able to convey
these messages here. And you just again, you can't afford
(26:07):
to send everybody over to Africa, to Tanzania to go
on a safari to tease that lesson.
Speaker 4 (26:12):
No, I think it's great. I think it's great what
you're doing. And also at the zoo too, I want
to touch on this before we wrap things up. The
intangibles too, Like you've got the exhibits, you've got the animals,
you've got the knowledgeable keepers, but you also have really
great food options there, food and drink, and I think
even too, like you just added that four D experience
where you put the VR glasses on, and like you've
got some other things that are there that are also
(26:32):
really fun to experience. My daughter loves the Merry go Round.
We have to do that at least two or three
times every time we go the train ride. You've really
you've added a bunch of different things in there. That's
not just walking around looking at animals. You've got other
experiences for people to get in there and be active.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
Yeah, I thank you for being with the carousel because
we recently have one price includes carousel and train, unlimited
rides in both cases, so that hopefully helps members and
other So it does your kid asks for three rides
around the carousel, you're not going to be losing a
lot of money.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
But yeah, we try to get mix things up.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
The VR experience is important because again I mentioned not
being able to take her ready to Africa. But now
there's this great VR experience that takes you to the
savannahs in Tanzania and Kenya, so you experienced the great
migration of these beautiful animals and you feel like you're there,
So you know, VR it doesn't take the place of
an actual experience, however, it gets you close. So yeah,
(27:29):
you have to keep on mixing things up, and that's
why we get some new habitats. Some new animals. I
should mention Ivy, this great chimp we have. It's a
chimp baby. She was born in June. Right now she's
being carefully groomed, but hopefully she'll be able to be
seen by the public soon. There's one of the cutest
(27:50):
things that's seeing a baby chimp. So people will be
able to see her probably in a month or so.
They'll be able to see her out in the habitat.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Oh, that's great. I love that.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Last time I was there, there were two younger chimps
that were wrestling with each other and it was just
the talk of the whole room. Everybody was loving this
experience watching them wrestle and have fun out there in
the grass in the gym section.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
It was so great.
Speaker 5 (28:08):
Yeah, chips are compelling animals to watch. Yeah, you never know,
you never know.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Again, that's very true. That's very true.
Speaker 4 (28:17):
Well, Kirby, let's get wrap this up again here, But
one more time, where can people go if they want
to find out some information, they want to plan their trip,
get their tickets, all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
Sure, our website Maryland Zoo dot org. That's the best
place to go.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Perfect Kirby Fowler President and CEO of the Maryland Zoo
in Baltimore.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Thank you so much for your time. Good to see
you and hopefully I'll be down there soon to see
you again.
Speaker 5 (28:37):
And thank you for loving the zoo.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
No big thank you to Kirby Fowler from the Maryland
Zoo for his time and for all of his efforts
to keep growing the zoo and its impact. If you
want to find out more info about the Maryland Zoo
in Baltimore, you can find it at Maryland Zoo dot org.
And thank you to all of you for listening to
delightful destinations this week. Until next time, be well,
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