My parents were very tolerant of my love of animals, even if they didn’t always appreciate what I brought home. Once I tried to pool money from family and friends to buy a baby alligator. That didn’t work out, but my parents did let me keep snapping turtles in my bedroom in the winter.

My father was an engineer who owned a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning design company. One of my brothers later took over the business. I decided to attend the University of Maine, and earned a degree in wildlife management.

When I graduated in 1980, I was applying for jobs in Africa and other places known for their wildlife. I had no interest in zoos, but I needed some experience and some income. A family friend said I should talk to the director of the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston. I wore my only suit for my appointment with Richard Naegeli, who headed the zoo, which was then part of a state agency. He offered me a job as a temporary laborer in the bird department. The zoo was much smaller then, with about 30 people, and I was also able to work with the zebras and the antelopes.

After six months, I was transferred to the Stone Zoo, also run by the same state agency, about 15 miles away, in Stoneham, Mass., where I was able to work with their tigers, great apes and bears. After working as a zoo attendant for three and a half years, I became head zookeeper in 1985. I’ve had almost every job at each zoo since then, including curator for mammals, where I oversaw the donation or loan of animals.

There were a lot of difficulties in running a state-funded zoo, so in 1992 the Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo were reorganized as a private nonprofit. We were always short-handed. One time, two of us had to transfer two gorillas between our zoos. We loaded them on what we called the “Gorilla Express”: two crates in an old box truck. One of the gorillas started cracking the boards of his crate, so we were very relieved to arrive at our destination.

In 2002, I was appointed president and chief executive of the zoos, officially called Zoo New England. Over the years, we have gained official accreditation for both zoos and expanded Franklin Park and overhauled Stone Zoo so visitors can get up close to cold-hardy animals like porcupines and black bears.

We participate in collaborative breeding and conservation with other zoos. We now have more than 1,000 animals, and 150 employees tending to them. And we have well over 500,000 visitors a year.

Although my career stayed close to home geographically, I have been able to be active in wildlife conservation internationally. As part of an effort to add more jaguars to the zoo, and to keep their bloodlines fresh, we worked to preserve their habitat in Guatemala. The zoo, together with several other zoos and conservation organizations, has also been helping to secure the various species of frogs that live in Panama, to create a Noah’s Ark of amphibians.

Closer to home, we are helping to expand the numbers, and habitat, for the beautiful and endangered Karner blue butterfly in New Hampshire. We also focus on educating children about animals. I rely on advice from my wife, a middle-school teacher, on how to interest students in wildlife.

Every minute of my time here at the zoo has been challenging, but one of the advantages of being the boss is that I can just do what I think is the right thing.

As told to Elizabeth Olson.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=18e3f78437ddc140d48693fab431a2e9