Zoo Story (33 page)

202
    
his will never seemed to waver:
This section is based on the author’s observations and interviews with Salisbury over several years, as well as multiple interviews he has given to other journalists.

202
    
posed for the cover:
Bob Andelman, “A Wild Thing: How Lowry Park Zoo Scratched Its Way from Worst to First,”
Maddux Business Report
, October 2008.

203
    
Lex invited a
St. Petersburg Times
reporter:
The author was the journalist who toured Safari Wild that day in December 2007 with Salisbury and his wife and Larry Killmar.

206
memorandum of understanding:
The memo was first publicly reported by the author in “Zoo Story,”
St. Petersburg Times
, December 16, 2007. Over the following year, the memo was dissected at length in further coverage of the zoo and of Safari Wild in the
St. Petersburg Times
and the
Tampa Tribune
, as well as in multiple reports from several media outlets.

16  NOT WINNING

209
    
The real trouble began:
The account of the monkeys’ escape and miscellaneous adventures is based on numerous news articles published in the
St. Petersburg Times
, the
Tampa Tribune
, and the
Lakeland Ledger
. It would require pages, literally, to list them all. In addition, Lex Salisbury and Elena Sheppa discussed the escape in an interview with the author in February 2010.

209
    
people had warned him the species could swim:
Author interview with Salisbury.

210
    
patas monkeys appear somewhat comical:
Tom Lake, “Fastest Monkeys on Earth Won’t Be Easy to Capture,”
St. Petersburg Times,
April 24, 2008.

210
    
sometimes called dancing monkeys:
Herb Clement,
Zoo Man
, p. 144.

210
    
the males typically weigh:
patas monkey fact sheet available online from the University of Wisconsin’s Primate Info Net, http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/patas_monkey.

210
    
they rely on evasive tactics:
Kelley Benham and Don Morris, “Escape from Monkey Island,”
St. Petersburg Times
, February 1, 2009.

210
    
None of this deterred Lex:
Benham and Morris, “Escape from Monkey Island.”

211
    
“I have monkeys in my yard”:
Erin Sullivan, “Seeing Monkeys? You’re Not Bananas,”
St. Petersburg Times
, August 30, 2008.

211
    
They snuck onto a ranch:
Baird Helgeson, “Escaped Monkeys Make Mischief on Ranch,”
Tampa Tribune
, October 25, 2008.

212
    
Revelations tumbled forth with dizzying speed:
This section summarizing the exposés into Lex Salisbury’s business affairs is based on numerous news reports, but the lion’s share of the investigative work was pieced together by Alexandra Zayas of the
St. Petersburg Times,
Baird Helgeson of the
Tampa Tribune
, and Steve Andrews of News Channel 8.

213
    
“I should have had better political instincts”:
Alexandra Zayas, “Iorio Says Zoo Didn’t Keep City Informed,”
St. Petersburg Times,
September 16, 2008.

213
    
board had reviewed the memo:
These details on the controversy are based on the city of Tampa’s audit of the zoo, released to the public in its final form in March 2009. The document is available online at http://www.tampagov.net/dept_Internal_Audit/files/09/0901.pdf. In addition, the audit’s contents were reported and discussed extensively in numerous news articles in the
St. Petersburg Times,
the
Tampa Tribune
, and other media outlets.

214
    
a three-day trip to Paris:
The city audit, pg 45.

214
    
“Mr. Salisbury appeared to treat the operation”:
p. 61 of the audit.

215
    
“Plead for mercy”:
Alexandra Zayas, “Zoo Leader Takes Issue with Audit,”
St. Petersburg Times
, December 16, 2008.

216
    
many of the audit’s findings about Lex should not have shocked anyone:
Numerous difficulties at Lowry Park were publicly disclosed many times in the two years before Lex Salisbury was forced out. Alex Pickett at Creative Loafing repeatedly sounded an alarm about conditions at the zoo, most prominently in “Endangered Species: How Safe Is Lowry Park Zoo?” a lengthy exposé that appeared on the magazine’s cover on October 25, 2006. Jeff and Coleen Kremer gave interviews to several reporters at different media outlets and documented problems at the zoo on their group’s Web site, tampaszooadvocates.com, long before the scandal exploded. The author, meanwhile, detailed Herman’s and Enshalla’s deaths in “Elegy for the King and Queen,” published in the
St. Petersburg Times
on October 1, 2006, and chronicled Salisbury’s fiery management style and morale issues at the zoo, as well as the potential for conflicts of interest at Safari Wild, in “Zoo Story,” a nine-part series published in December 2007.

216
    
the staff routinely saw him driving a trailer:
The author observed this repeatedly and heard zoo staffers talking about it as a matter of course, including at a docents meeting he attended in October 2003, where Lee Ann Rottman announced that four of the zoo’s zebras had come from Salisbury’s ranch.

216
    The Mayor’s Hour: Alexandra Zayas, “City of Tampa TV Showed Rhinos’ Delivery to Private Zoo,”
St. Petersburg Times
, October 23, 2008. As of this writing, photos of the two rhinos being transported to Safari Wild—and of Lowry Park employees observing the move—can still be viewed on the city of Tampa’s Web site, http://tampafl.gov/dept_Cable_Communication/programs_and_services/city_of_tampa_television/_behind_the_scenes/behind_the_scenes37.asp.

217
    
Trent Meador thought maybe it was a coyote:
This account of Meador’s shooting of one of the escaped monkeys is closely based on Ben Montgomery’s remarkable article, “The Real Fate of Monkey No. 15,”
St. Petersburg Times
, January 30, 2009.

219
    
“You’re not going to catch those monkeys”:
This account of Lex and Deana Brown’s experiences trapping the final four monkeys is based on an award-winning multimedia project written by Kelley Benham and illustrated by Don Morris, titled “Escape from Monkey Island” and published in the
St. Petersburg Times
on February 1, 2009. An interactive version of the story, featuring animation by John Corbitt and Desiree Perry, can be viewed on the
Times’
Web site at http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/monkey-island/. Additional information from the original interviews with the Browns was also shared with the author, courtesy of Benham, and was woven into this account.

17  CULL

222
    
That Thursday broke bright and clear:
This chapter is based on numerous news articles on the board meeting, especially Alexandra Zayas’s “Lowry Park’s Longtime Chief Forced to Resign,”
St. Petersburg Times
, and Baird Helgeson’s “Lowry Park Zoo Director Announces Resignation,”
Tampa Tribune
, both published on December 19, 2008. The author also relied on Web updates that these reporters and others filed even before the meeting was over. The account is also based on the author’s interviews with Salisbury and Sheppa and with two members of the Lowry Park board who voted that day.

224
    
the nothingness of the hotel corridors:
The descriptions of how the day felt to the reporters are based on the author’s interview with Alexandra Zayas.

225
    
“You can’t possibly be serious”:
Author interview with Marti Ryan, spokeswoman for Hillsborough County’s Animal Services.

225
    
“in a car with the windows cracked?”:
This scene is based on the author’s interviews with Elena Sheppa, Marti Ryan, and Corporal Denise Brewer, the animal services officer who cited Sheppa, as well as photos that Brewer took of the Pathfinder that day in the parking lot as part of her investigation. The author also relied on an article by Dennis Joyce, “Wife of Ex-Zoo Director Charged with Animal Cruelty,”
Tampa Tribune
, December 18, 2008.

226
    
details trickled out:
This account of the board meeting is based on the author’s interviews with Salisbury, with former board member Bob Jordan, and with another board member who wished to remain anonymous.

227
    
board chairman went to the room:
Based on the author’s interview with Lex Salisbury and on statements made by Robert Merritt, the chairman, during a press conference immediately after the board meeting.

Epilogue DUSK

228
    
search for a new executive director:
Baird Helgeson, “Tampa Zoo Uses Vague Ad to Seek New CEO,”
Tampa Tribune
, September 30, 2009.

229
“A business with two brands”:
Quoted from a Lowry Park media release.

229
    
“the number one zoo in America”:
Heard by author repeatedly during calls to the zoo in the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010.

229
Lee Ann remembered:
This section, including the details of Bamboo’s and Sasha’s deaths, is based on the author’s interview with Rottman in early 2010.

231
El Diablo Blanco stared into the flames:
This section is based on the author’s interview with Salisbury and Sheppa at their ranch in Pasco County on February 28, 2010.

232
    
clearly weary of the whole affair:
Alexandra Zayas, “Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo and Former President Lex Salisbury Negotiate a Financial Settlement,”
St. Petersburg Times
, August 22, 2009.

232
further prosecution is not warranted:
Salisbury supplied the author with a copy of the letter.

235
    
“the serial killer of the biosphere”:
E. O. Wilson,
The Future of Life
, p. 94.

235
    
golden frogs have all but vanished:
Author interview with Kevin Zippel.

236
    
a toddler, staring down a rhino:
The author saw the poster during a visit to Mick Reilly’s home.

236
    
“Nature . . . plays no favorites”:
The author reported these scenes in Mkhaya, including the closing conversation at the watering hole, during an April 2007 trip to Swaziland.

Baratay, Eric, and Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier.
Zoo: A History of Zoological Gardens in the West.
English translation. Reaktion Books, 2002.

Bartlett, R. D.
Poison Dart Frogs: Facts & Advice on Care and Breeding.
Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 2003.

Beard, Peter.
The End of the Game: The Last Word From Paradise.
Updated edition. Taschen, 2008.

Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of Elephants.
Edited by Murray E. Fowler and Susan K. Mikota. Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

The Care and Management of Captive Chimpanzees.
Edited by Linda Brent. The American Society of Primatologists, 1997.

Chadwick, Douglas H.
The Fate of the Elephant.
Sierra Club Books, 1994.

Clement, Herb.
Zoo Man.
Macmillan, 1969.

Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees.
Edited by T. Matsuzawa, M. Tomonaga, and M. Tanaka. Springer, 2006.

Crandall, Lee S., in collaboration with William Bridges.
A Zoo Man’s Notebook.
University of Chicago Press, 1975.

Croke, Vicki.
The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos: Past, Present and Future.
Scribner, 1997.

A Cultural History of Animals.
Volumes One through Six. Edited by Linda Kalof and Brigitte Resl. English edition by Berg, 2007.

de Waal, Frans.
Chimpanzee Politics: Power and Sex among Apes.
Revised edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Donahue, Jesse, and Erik Trump.
The Politics of Zoos: Exotic Animals and Their Protectors.
Northern Illinois University Press, 2006.

Douglas-Hamilton, Iain and Oria.
Battle for the Elephants.
First American edition, Viking Penguin, 1992.

An Elephant in the Room: The Science and Well-Being of Elephants in Captivity.
Edited by Debra L. Forthman, Lisa F. Kane, David Hancocks, and Paul F. Waldau. From a 2006 symposium at Tufts University’s Center for Animals and Public Policy, since posted online at elephantsincaptivity.com.

Elephant Management: A Scientific Assessment for South Africa.
Edited by R. J. Scholes and K. G. Mennell. Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, 2008.

Elephants and Ethics: Toward a Morality of Coexistence.
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The Encylopedia of Mammals.
Edited by David Macdonald. Second edition. The Brown Reference Group, 2001.

Ethics on the Ark: Zoos, Animal Welfare, and Wildlife Conservation.
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Fowler, Murray.
Restraint and Handling of Wild and Domestic Animals.
Third edition. Wiley-Blackwell, 2008.

Friend, Tim.
Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language.
Free Press, 2004.

Goodall, Jane.
In the Shadow of Man.
First Mariners Books edition, 2000.

Goodall, Jane.
Through a Window: My Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe.
First Mariners Books edition, 2000.

Grandin, Temple, and Catherine Johnson.
Animals in Translation.
Paperback edition by Harcourt Books, 2006.

Hancocks, David.
A Different Nature: The Paradoxical World of Zoos and Their Uncertain Future.
University of California Press, 2001.

Hanson, Elizabeth.
Animal Attractions: Nature on Display in American Zoos.
Princeton University Press, 2002.

Hediger, H.
The Psychology and Behaviour of Animals in Zoos and Circuses
. English translation. Dover Publications, Inc., 1969.

Hediger, H.
Wild Animals in Captivity: An Outline of the Biology of Zoological Gardens
. English translation. Dover Publications, Inc., 1964.

Hill, Peggy S. M.
Vibrational Communication in Animals.
Harvard University Press, 2008.

Hosey, Geoff, Vicky Melfi, and Sheila Pankurst.
Zoo Animals: Behaviour, Management, and Welfare.
Oxford University Press, 2009.

Human Zoos: Science and Spectacle in the Age of Colonial Empires.
Edited by Pascal Blanchard, Nicolas Bancel, Gilles Boetsch, Eric Deroo, Sandrine Lemaire, and Charles Forsdick. English translation by Liverpool University Press, 2009.

Jamison, Kay Redfield.
Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide.
Alfred A. Knopf, 1999.

Joubert, Salomon.
The Kruger National Park: A History.
Volumes One and Two. High Branching, 2007.

Kessler, Cristina.
All the King’s Animals: The Return of Endangered Wildlife to Swaziland.
Boyds Mills Press, 2001.

The Kruger Experience: Ecology and Management of Savanna Heterogeneity.
Edited by Johan T. du Toit, Kevin H. Rogers, and Harry C. Biggs. Island Press, 2003.

Linden, Eugene.
The Octopus and the Orangutan: New Tales of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence, and Ingenuity
. Dutton, 2002.

Lotters, Stefan, Karl-Heinz Jungfer, Friedrich Wilhelm Henkel, and Wolfgang Schmidt.
Poison Frogs: Biology, Species & Captive Husbandry.
Chimaira, 2007.

Machiavellian Intelligence II: Extensions and Evaluations.
Edited by Andrew Whiten and Richard W. Byrne. Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Malamud, Randy.
Reading Zoos: Representations of Animals and Captivity.
New York University Press, 1998.

Maple, Terry L., and Erika F. Archibald.
Zoo Man: Inside the Zoo Revolution.
Longstreet Press, 1993.

Moss, Cynthia.
Elephant Memories: Thirteen Years in the Life of an Elephant Family.
Ballantine Books, 1989.

Mullan, Bob, and Garry Marvin.
Zoo Culture.
University of Illinois Press, 1999.

O’Connell, Caitlin.
The Elephant’s Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa.
Free Press, 2007.

Payne, Katharine.
Elephants Calling.
Crown Publishers Inc., 1992.

Payne, Katy.
Silent Thunder: The Hidden Voice of Elephants.
Paperback edition. Orion, 1999.

Peterson, Dale.
Elephant Reflections.
Photographs by Karl Ammann. University of California Press, 2009.

Poole, Joyce.
Coming of Age With Elephants: A Memoir.
Hyperion, 1996.

Poole, Joyce.
Elephants.
Voyageur Press Inc., 1997.

Robinson, Phillip T.
Life at the Zoo: Behind the Scenes with the Animal Doctors.
Columbia University Press, 2004.

Rothfels, Nigel.
Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo.
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.

Ryan, R. J.
Keepers of the Ark: An Elephants’ (sic) View of Captivity.
Self-published by Xlibiris Corporation, 1999.

Scigliano, Eric.
Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans.
Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.

Sihler, Amanda and Greg.
Poison Dart Frogs: A Complete Guide to Dendrobatidae.
T. F. H. Publications, 2007.

Sukumar, Raman.
The Living Elephants: Evolutionary Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation.
Oxford University Press, 2003.

Sutherland, Amy.
Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World’s Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers.
Viking Penguin, 2006.

Tigers of the World: The Biology, Biopolitics, Management, and Conservation of an Endangered Species.
Edited by Ronald L. Tilson and Ulysses S. Seal. Noyes Publications, 1989.

Turner, Alan.
The Big Cats and Their Fossil Relatives.
Columbia University Press, 1997.

Wild Mammals in Captivity: Principles and Techniques.
Edited by Devra G. Kleiman, Mary E. Allen, Katerina V. Thompson, Susan Lumpkin, and Holly Harris. The University of Chicago Press, 1996.

The Wildlife of Southern Africa: The Larger Illustrated Guide to the Animals and Plants of the Region
, edited by Vincent Carruthers. Larger format edition. Struik Publishers, 2008.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig.
Philosophical Investigations.
Revised English translation, 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, published in 2001 by Blackwell Publishing.

Wrangham, Richard, and Dale Peterson.
Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence.
Mariner Books, 1997.

Wright, Lawrence.
The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.

Wylie, Dan.
Elephant.
Reaktion Books Ltd, 2008.

Zoo and Aquarium History: Ancient Animal Collections to Zoological Gardens.
Edited by Vernon N. Kisling, Jr. CRC Press LLC, 2001.

SCIENTIFIC PAPERS

“The Effects of Early Experience on Adult Copulatory Behavior in Zoo-Born Chimpanzees (
Pantroglodytes
),” Nancy E. King and Jill D. Mellen,
Zoo Biology
13: 1 (1994); 51–59.

“African Elephant Vocal Communication I: Antiphonal Calling Behaviour among Affiliated Females,” Joseph Soltis, Kirsten Leong, and Anne Savage,
Animal Behaviour
70: 3 (2005); 579–587.

“Anatomy of the Reproductive Tract of the Female African Elephant (
Loxodonta africana
) with Reference to Development of Techniques for Artificial Breeding,” J. M. E. Balke, W. J. Boever, M. R. Ellersieck, U. S. Seal, and D. A. Smith,
Journal of Reproduction & Fertility
84 (1988); 485–492.

“Aspects of the Reproductive Biology and Breeding Management of Asian and African Elephants
Elephas maximus
and
Loxodonta africana
,” T. B. Hildebrandt, F. Göritz, R. Hermes, C. Reid, M. Dehnhard, and J. L. Brown,
International Zoo Yearbook
40: 1 (2006); 20–40.

“Assessment of Elephant Management in South Africa”—powerpoint presentation delivered on February 25, 2008—authored by Bob Schole and 62 other elephant researchers.

“Electroejaculation, Semen Characteristics and Serum Testosterone Concentrations of Free-Ranging African Elephants (
Loxodonta africana
),” JoGayle Howard, M. Bush, V. de Vos, and D. E. Wildt,
Journal of Reproduction & Fertility
72 (1984); 187–195.

“Elephant Communication,” W. R. Langbauer, Jr.,
Zoo Biology
19: 5 (2000); 425–455.

“Elephant Culling’s Cruel and Gory Past,” article posted on International Fund for Animal Welfare’s Web site, http//www.ifaw.org/ifaw/general/default.aspx?oid=155902.

“Liquid Storage of Asian Elephant (
Elephas maximus
) Sperm at 4°C,” L. H. Graham, J. Bando, C. Gray, M. M. Buhr,
Animal Reproduction Science
80: 4 (2004); 329–340.

“Managing Multiple Elephants Using Protected Contact at San Diego’s Wild Animal Park,” by Gary Priest, Jennine Antrim, Jane Gilbert, and Valerie Hare,
Soundings
23: 1 (1998); 20–24.

“Manual Collection and Characterization of Semen from Asian Elephants (
Elephas maximus
),” D. L. Schmitt, T. B. Hildebrandt,
Animal Reproduction Science
53: 1 (1998); 309–314.

“A Review of Injuries Caused by Elephants in Captivity: An Examination of Predominant Factors,” M. Gore, M. Hutchins, and J. Ray,
International Zoo Yearbook
40: 1 (2006); 51–62.

“Reproductive Evaluation in Wild African Elephants Prior to Translocation,” Thomas B. Hildebrandt, Robert Hermes, Donald L. Janssen, James E. Oosterhuis, David Murphy, and Frank Göritz—from the proceedings of a 2004 joint conference of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, the American Association of Wildlife Veterinarians, and the Wildlife Disease Association, pp. 76–77.

“Responses of Captive African Elephants to Playback of Low-Frequency Calls,” William R. Langbauer, Jr., Katharine B. Payne, Russell A. Charif, and Elizabeth M. Thomas,
Canadian Journal of Zoology
67: 10 (1989); 2604–2607.

“Rumble Vocalizations Mediate Interpartner Distance in African Elephants,
Loxodonta africana,
” Katherine A. Leighty, Joseph Soltis, Christina M. Wesolek, and Anne Savage,
Animal Behaviour
76: 5 (2008); 1601–1608.

“Semen Collection in an Asian Elephant (
Elephas maximus
) Under Combined Physical and Chemical Restraint,” T. J. Portas, B. R. Bryant, F. Göritz, R. Hermes, T. Keeley, G. Evans, W. M. C. Maxwell, and T. B. Hildebrandt,
Australian Veterinary Journal
85: 10 (2007); 425–427.

“Social Interactions in Captive Female Florida Manatees,” Jennifer Young Harper and Bruce A. Schulte,
Zoo Biology
24: 2 (2005); 135–144.

“Successful Cryopreservation of Asian Elephant (
Elephas maximus
) Spermatozoa,” Joseph Saragusty, Thomas B. Hildebrandt, Britta Behr, Andreas Knieriem, Jurgen Kruse, Robert Hermes,
Animal Reproduction Science
article in press, doi:10.1016/j.anireprosci.2008.11.010.

“There’s No Place Like Home—‘The Swazi 11,’ a Case Study in the Global Trade in Live Elephants,” Adam M. Roberts and Will Travers, presented at the XIXth International Congress of Zoology, August 2004, Beijing.

“The Use of Low-Frequency Vocalizations in African Elephant (
Loxodonta africana
) Reproductive Strategies,” by K. M. Leong, A. Ortolani, L. H. Graham, and A. Savage,
Hormones and Behavior
43: 4 (2003); 433–443.

“Unusually Extensive Networks of Vocal Recognition in African Elephants,” Karen McComb, Cynthia Moss, Soila Sayialel, and Lucy Baker,
Animal Behaviour
59: 6 (2000); 1103–1109.

West African Chimpanzees: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan
, edited by Rebecca Kormos, Christophe Boesch, Mohamed I. Bakarr, and Thomas M. Butynski, published in 2003 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.