Ed Maruska, former longtime director of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, is headed for Los Angeles.

        He becomes interim general manager of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden July 1.

Maruska

        “It's a nine-month commitment while they look for a new director,” Mr. Maruska said Friday. “They asked if I'd consider the job full time and I said no. But for a short time, I'm ready for that. I've rested long enough. Then again, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment.”

        Mr. Maruska, who ran the Cincinnati Zoo from 1968 until he retired in December 2000, has been consulting and traveling.

        He has been involved with the Los Angeles Zoo for eight years: “I was part of a three-man evaluation team when that zoo was in trouble. They were losing their accreditation with AZA (American Zoo and Aquarium Association) and were in trouble with animal rights groups. Our study resulted in a new director and a laundry list of recommendations, all of which they carried out in just six months.”

        In informal rankings of U.S. zoos, L.A. now is considered one of the top 10, in company with Cincinnati, San Diego and Chicago.

        Mr. Maruska will be working with consultant David Towne, former president of the Woodland Park Zoological Society in Seattle.

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