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TIME: Almanac 1995
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TIME Almanac 1995.iso
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08218900.043
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1994-03-25
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<text id=89TT2182>
<title>
Aug. 21, 1989: From The Publisher
</title>
<history>
TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
Aug. 21, 1989 How Bush Decides
</history>
<article>
<source>Time Magazine</source>
<hdr>
FROM THE PUBLISHER, Page 15
</hdr><body>
<p> The man at the right may look like he's only feeding a
giraffe, but he's actually lunching with a source. Acacia
branches in hand, Los Angeles correspondent James Willwerth
befriended Kito for this week's Living story on the renaissance
of the American zoo. Over the course of eight weeks Willwerth
petted a walrus in Tacoma, walked ankle deep in freezing snow
in the company of several hundred penguins in San Diego and held
(gingerly) a tarantula in Cincinnati.
</p>
<p> As he talked to the human beings who run the zoos,
Willwerth was especially impressed by the dedication that
curators feel to their quite modestly paid jobs. He was also
drawn into the difficult issues of animal management. Says
Willwerth: "Listening to complex discussions of gene pools,
habitat destruction, medical problems, immersion landscapes and
zoo politics is surprisingly compelling."
</p>
<p> Willwerth became a lover of wildlife when he watched a Walt
Disney film about South America's big jungle cats at the local
movie house in his hometown of Grand Rapids. Since then he has
visited the Tiger Tops resort, in Nepal's Royal Chitwan
National Park, and game preserves in East Africa as well as the
penguin protectorates located on the South Australian coast.
"This assignment brought out both the conservationist and the
kid in me," he says.
</p>
<p> His most memorable moment came when he strolled with the
penguins at San Diego's Sea World. The emperor and king
penguins occasionally proved less than hospitable to their new
companion. Standing hip high, with beaks the size of small
kitchen knives, the penguins repeatedly tried to jab Willwerth's
legs. Fortunately, the Sea World curator managed to rescue
TIME's roving correspondent before any damage was done. As for
feeding Kito, Willwerth cannot remember another source that ate
quite so quickly. His only challenge remains how to list an
acacia tree on his expense account.
</p>
</body></article>
</text>