Saturday, February 26, 2000
Zoo chief stepping down after 38 years
Maruska championed plan to breed rare animals
BY MIKE PULFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Edward J. Maruska shows an endangered Indigo snake to Madeline Brammer, 5, and her sister, Crosley.
(Tony Jones photo)
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Edward J. Maruska, director of Cincinnati's zoo for nearly four decades, announced his retirement Friday.
Mr. Maruska was the nation's youngest zoo director when he took the job at age 28. In his 38 years, he built the zoo's reputation for breeding endangered animals in captivity and protecting them in the wild. Some industry analysts rank the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden as second-best in the nation.
“He is leaving a tremendous legacy,” said Rob Sibcy, last year's president of the zoo board. “When he took that place over, it was less than respectable. ... Today, it is a very highly respected institution in the industry.”
A nationwide search for his replacement will begin immediately. While his retirement is scheduled for Dec. 31, Mr. Maruska said he'll stay longer if needed, until the board finds a replacement.
“I'll do anything I can for this institution,” he said. “This is where my heart is.”
Mr. Maruska's direction helped the zoo earn the nickname “sexiest zoo” by setting records for breeding rare animals in captivity. He also broadened the zoo's scope to include protection of endangered animals and plants, and education for
adults and children. The zoo has built several award-winning exhibits. Membership has grown from 3,500 to more than 58,000; attendance from fewer than 750,000 to more than 1.2 million a year. The volunteer pool has surged from a handful of faithfuls to 1,100 adults and 125 teen-agers.
“A lot of that is because of him and his entrepreneurial talents,” Mr. Sibcy said.
In the zoo business, Mr. Maruska is an “icon,” said Michael Hutchins, director of conservation and science for the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.
Mr. Hutchins called Mr. Maruska “highly innovative” in conservation research, and said his influence in the zoo and aquarium industry has been great.
Mr. Maruska came to Cincinnati from Chicago's South Side. He and his wife, Nancy, will stay here. “We feel this is home,” he said.
He'll continue his work in amphibian research at the zoo part time and devote more hours to several hobbies, including travel, animal photography, gardening; and to his seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
The Maruskas live in College Hill.
“It's going to be a sad day” the 66-year-old Mr. Maruska said, referring to the day he actually leaves his job. “I've been involved in all the things I love. I enjoy animals and I enjoy people. I hope I can continue to be involved (at the zoo) at some level for the rest of my days.”
After attending Wright College and Roosevelt University, Mr. Maruska began his animal career at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, where he was hired by Marlin Perkins (host of television's Wild Kingdom animal show).
He has written more than 20 books, articles and papers on salamanders and other amphibians, as well as other zoological topics.
When Mr. Maruska came to the zoo, the enclosures provided for the animals were less spacious and didn't reflect the natural environment. Today's exhibits place more emphasis on giving the animals room to roam and create a sense of the wild.
He points with pride to the zoo's manatee exhibit, which opened last year with two manatees; and the expanded elephant and polar bear exhibits, scheduled to open this spring and fall respectively.
Then there's the World of Insects building, Wings of the World (birds) and Jungle Trails, which won a national award. All were created during Mr. Maruska's directorship.
“It's been a very trend-setting zoo,” said Mark McCollow, the Evanston architect who designs most of the exhibits. “And it's due to Ed's expertise.”
William Conway, senior conservationist for the Wildlife Conservation Society, said, “Ed is particularly noted for what is no less than an encyclopedic knowledge of wildlife. It is very hard to discuss any wildlife (issue), whether it be in Alaska or Borneo, that Ed could not inform you. It can be disconcerting.”
Apparently, he knows people, too.
“This has become a training ground for good people,” Mr. Maruska said. “When zoos have positions to fill, they look to New York, San Diego and Cincinnati. The team of people we have put together have made and continue to make the zoo one of the best in North America.”
And there's no stopping now, he says. Change must be continual.
“The zoo has to be a viable, growing institution,” he said. “There's a lot of competition for recreation time and dollars.
Mr. Maruska said he is proud of how the zoo collection has developed to include 700 kinds of animals and 3,000 varieties of plants.
In 1986, he developed a summer program to celebrate the success of the zoo's breeding efforts. Zoo Babies, as it is known, soon became the zoo's second most popular event. Winter's Festival of lights is the biggest draw.
“When I hear the expression "renaissance man,' that's Ed Maruska,” said Doug Myers, executive director of the Zoological Society of San Diego, which operates the zoo there. “He has built probably one of the best collections ever built in the history of zoos.
“He truly is a mentor to a lot of us. He's patient, he's smart as a whip and he's taught a lot of us the right way of doing the conservation science we do.”
“One of the important things about Ed Maruska is that he is a great deal self-educated,” said Charlie Hoessle, director of the St. Louis Zoo and an acquaintance of Mr. Maruska's for 30 years. “Most of his skills in the animal profession were by his own endeavors. He spent a lot of time researching at the library, and I know he has a very extensive library at his home.
“He is one of those self-made individuals that started in the bottom of the profession and worked his way up to the top. His institution is held in high esteem. People in Cincinnati are proud of their zoo, but it also has national and international esteem for its breeding programs.”
In reference to one of Mr. Maruska's most visible controversies at the zoo, the Mr. Hutchins supported the director's position.
In 1997, when the zoo said it needed tax money that would enable an expansion of the elephant house, Mr. Maruska suggested the possibility of discontinuing an elephant exhibit.
“To tell the truth, he was right on with those statements and they were respon sible statements, made for the good of the animals and the good of the institution,” Mr. Hutchins said.
“He felt so strongly that area needed to be renovated to come up to standards, because our knowledge of keeping elephants has changed so much in the last decade or two as to how they behave in nature ... he truly felt if they weren't going to do it right, he suggested Cincinnati ought not to have elephants.” Mr. Maruska has had his share of problems.
In 1990, a zoo keeper lost a forearm in a polar-bear attack and a controversy ensued over alleged safety violations. The victim and another employee both sued the zoo, saying they were inadequately trained and protected. The second employee said she was unfairly demoted because of her criticism. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the zoo for eight safety violations.
Mr. Maruska said he has been discussing his possible retirement, and the need for a successor, with board President Neal Arnold for six months. “I'm sure they'll be searching for the best person. The board feels very strongly about this place.
“He'll be a hard man to replace,” said Herbert Middendorf, a member of the board from 1980 to 1985 who toured Africa with Mr. Maruska four times. “He was a very imaginative man, good at bringing new exhibits and attracting more people.”
“We'll start the search right now,” said Mr. Sibcy. “Obviously, we'll go across the country. Anybody in the business would be attracted to it (the job).”
Staff writers Margaret A. McGurk and Owen Findsen contributed to this report.
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