Longtime Director of the Milwaukee County Zoo, Chuck Wickenhauser, isn’t second guessing his decision to retire.
“It’s time,” Wickenhauser told WTMJ’s Steve Scaffidi. “I like my job, I could work forever. But my wife tells me ‘No, you shouldn’t work forever.'”
Wickenhauser, who has led the zoo since 1990, will officially retire on April 1st.
“The number of animals has changed (over the years),” he said. “Once, the theory was to have as many animals at the zoo as you can. Now, we have fewer animals, but our facilities have improved. Animal welfare is paramount for what we do here.”
Wickenhauser was asked what the future of zoos may look like. Could visitors see extinct animals like woolly mammoths someday?
“That’s probably not going to happen at a zoo,” he explained. “I don’t see the value of bringing back a woolly mammoth. We work towards (preservation) rather than bringing something back that’s long been extinct.”
But one former and popular zoo attraction could make a triumphant return, according to Wickenhauser.
“Maybe Samson will come back to the zoo someday,” he said, referring to the facility’s most famous resident, a silverback gorilla. Samson lived at the zoo for more than 30 years before his death.
“He’s at the Milwaukee Public Museum (a replica taxidermy), and they keep asking us to bring him back here. I think that will be something we do.”