ZOO/WILD's 2012 Activities . . .

ZOO Founder/Director attends special WAZA meetings in Leipzig

Sally Walker, Founder/Director of ZOO attended a meeting of the WAZA Committee Chairs and a special meeting of WAZA Council held in the beautiful Leipzig Zoo, Leipzig, Germany. The trip was not without a down side such as the airline not keeping up with her luggage and a throat infection making her miss the barbeque of the last night. The Committee Chairs workshop included reports and discussion from Membership, Finance, Associations (Sally's Committee), Science and Veterinary, Marketing, Programme and the Decade Project. Dr. Jorg Junghold, Director of the Zoo and President of WAZA kept all in a good mood with his cheery disposition and perhaps more effective, the wonderful food of Leipzig. Committee chairs gave reports and discussed various issues in order to enhance the effectiveness of the committees. This was done by various methods such as changing status, dividing into two entities, re-naming, closing, etc. The second day was a Council meeting where some loose ends were tied up which had not been done at the Mid-Year meeting and two working groups worked on Animal Welfare and Ethics and Collection Sustainability. This was followed by a zoo tour and a barbeque.

Dr. Junghold and the Leipzig Zoo have a very friendly relationship with the Press of Leipzig. However when the Press came to our meeting to take a photo, they found us very dull and requested a more lively scenario. that is why Sally Walker is clowning around, striking a pose and trying to do what was asked. The other members continued to look dull except Susan and Lena who look disgusted (with Sally's antics).