Mann-Koga (From Richard Reynolds)

Mann-Koga, originally uploaded by bucklesw1. Apropos Ken Kawata’s remarks on the Blog is this 1952 photo from a CFA gathering that included two of the world’s foremost zoo professionals, Dr. William Mann, director of the National Zoo, Washington, (seated at the far left wearing glasses) and Dr. Tadamichi Koga, Japan’s Mr. Zoo, long time director of Tokyo’s Ueno zoo and Ken Kawata's mentor. (second one standing on the right, prominent in his tie). As Ken mentioned in his piece, this was from a time when zoo directors and curators were very friendly to circuses and appreciative of animals in the circus. Dr. Mann was a very active member of CFA and circuses often called on him about animals, animal regulations, etc. Other US zoo directors and curators from this period and earlier who were sympathetic to circus animals and/or sold and traded animals to and with circuses included - - - George Vierheller (St. Louis zoo – he operated wild animal shows at the zoo), the Beans –father and son (Brookfield zoo), Belle Benchley (San Diego zoo), Sol Stephan (Cincinnati zoo), Lee Crandall (Bronx zoo), Fred Ulmer (Philadelphia zoo), George Speidel (Milwaukee zoo), Dan Harkins (Boston zoo), Cy DeVry (Lincoln Park, Chicago), Fletcher Reynolds (Candler’s Briarcliff zoo, Atlanta, Cleveland zoo and a one time President of AZA), William Blackburn (National Zoo and one time Barnum animal man), Edmund Heller (Milwaukee and San Francisco zoos), Roland Lindermann (Catskill Game Farm), several directors of the Memphis zoo, and Theodor Schroder (Detroit zoo and one time polar bear trainer on RBBB and elsewhere). Among more recent zoo men sympathetic to circus animals were Clayton Freiheit (Denver Zoo, a CHS member) and Frank Thompson (Jacksonville zoo). Thompson is now retired and Freiheit is now deceased (big loss - -one fine chap was he). But their ranks are thinning as Kawata pointed out. Many zoo directors of today will not consider selling or loaning an animal to a circus or receiving one from a show. Such has become politically incorrect. To use their vernacular, it offends the “ethics of the ark,” as such are promulgated and enacted by the AZA. To exercise independence is to risk loss of AZA accreditation and incur the wrath of the public as fueled by a biased press.