![]() ![]() I’m convinced that this human-animal connection is the most effective way to get people to care about nature. Having observed the impact these live animals have on the hundreds and thousands of guests who have accompanied me on zoo and safari tours. I certainly will enjoy working and playing with zoo-born giraffe and rhinos, but there is definitely a higher purpose that drives me to this vision. Some believe I’m doing it for myself, which is only partly true. Perhaps the name Barongi is less Italian than African?įast-forward to the present and it’s easy to see why this New York City kid is building a wildlife ranch with overnight lodging in the Texas Hill Country. In Kenya they often call me Bwana Ba-rong-gee and are surprised when they see a ‘Mzungu’ (Swahili for white person) coming out of the airport. I have since returned to the African continent more than 50 times to work on conservation projects and lead photographic safaris. ![]() The most significant experience of my life was this first five-month trip to East Africa in 1974. So instead of searching for an apartment in Ithaca, New York, I packed my bags and bought a one-way ticket to Nairobi, Kenya. Little did I realize at the time, a different future, one working with wild animals, lay ahead. When I was 21 my biggest disappointment was not being accepted by the Cornell Veterinary College after graduating that same university in 1974. Suffice to say I have learned a lot over my career! I regard mistakes as learning experiences and successes as knowing and working with the right people. No one person or experience dictates all the disappointments and successes of our lives. I don’t believe our lives have a single moment of epiphany but rather are a series of experiences and lucky encounters that shape our futures. Cohan in the 1942 movie Yankee Doodle Dandy. He did however win an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal of George M. Yeah Jimmy Cagney, the tough guy actor best known for the words “You Dirty Rat”, a phrase he never uttered. Jane Goodall, William Conway (former Director of the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society), Bill Barnett (first Board Chair of the newly privatized Houston Zoo), Russ Mittermeier (World renowned biodiversity conservationist, Nelson Mandela, Teddy Roosevelt, Katherine Hepburn and James Cagney. My list of most admired humans is fairly short and includes both living and deceased. My all-time favorite animals are the okapi, rhino, giraffe, tapir, tiger, gorilla and the Labrador retriever. Many amazing people and fascinating animals have enriched my life. I have worked with and observed some amazing animals… and now it’s pay-back time, time for me to do something more significant for wildlife conservation. As a zoo-based zoologist (notice that, there is no ‘zoo’ in pronouncing zo I prefer to call them parks, as the word ‘zoo’ has gotten such a bad rap these days… more on that later. I retired from the Houston Zoo in 2015 having spent over 45 years working in zoological parks (Jungle Habitat, Zoo Miami, San Diego Zoo, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the last 15 years in Houston). I consider Longneck Manor as the right thing to do at the right time. ![]() This first one gives you a glimpse of why I ended up in the zoo and conservation world.Īt age 69, I’m embarking on the riskiest adventure of my career, investing heavily in a business model that is more mission-driven than profit-making. Hope that things can change and recover, hope that nature can heal if someone “cares a whole awful lot.If you are passionate about animals (both pets and wildlife) and want to learn how to help save them in their natural habitats, then I invite you to read my Blog. Can it be saved? Seuss gives children the most important message of all in the final stanzas of the book: a message of hope. Thanks to the Once-ler’s greed, what was an oasis for so many creatures is on the brink of becoming a smog-filled wasteland. But as we all know, that beautiful place is in jeopardy. That’s the magic of Seuss, whose wild characters, including Brown Bar-ba-loots and Swomee-swans, populate the mystical world the Lorax lives in. A cautionary tale full of lines disguised as silly rhymes warning of climate collapse, Lorax quotes continue to teach children to care for the planet.īy reading this book or watching the movie adaptation you can share these quotes with your children and help them better understand the importance of protecting the planet without being preachy. Seuss seemed to know what was coming with climate change when he wrote about the Once-ler, a selfish profiteer hellbent on destroying a Truffula forest to fashion Thneeds, all purpose objects (which everyone, everyone, everyone needs), and the sage Lorax who tries to persuade him to stop. Seuss’s famous book The Lorax was published in 1971, but the way it reads you might think its message of protecting the planet was produced today. ![]()
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