A couple of final comments on the sorry situation that became the Lex Salisbury saga: the man who put the Lowry Park Zoo on the map and himself in an ethically compromised position.
Salisbury had to go and he went. Now the board, which is staying, has to finally step up.
Second, now that a search is beginning for a new president/CEO, the criteria are coming into fiduciary focus. It includes this tip from Satch Krantz, the immediate past chairman of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The AZA has suspended the Lowry Park Zoo’s accreditation.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, Krantz stressed the twin priorities of a business and nonprofit-management background for Salisbury’s successor.
An animal background? A plus, but hardly necessary.
Not necessary?
Of course, there are generic business and management skills that apply across the nonprofit board. And scrutiny will presumably unearth any record of ethical lapses.
But a zoo, especially one that has been successful and notably progressive in its treatment and habitat of animals, is not the United Way or the Red Cross.
Of course, zoos have bottom lines and public obligations, but their purview also includes education and natural history as well as species protection and breeding.
Yes, an animal background would be quite the plus.