“You always smell! Change clothes and shoes, too.”
That’s one of the pieces of advice Dr. Mark Wilson gives his new zookeeper students at the Florida International Teaching Zoo (FITZ) in Bushnell. Another maxim: “Something always wants to scratch, eat or harm you.”
One of the constant battles for most zoos is funding and FITZ is no exception. That’s where the Rialto Theater in Spanish Springs and Manager Craig Wolfe have stepped in with two benefit screenings of the Oscar-winning 1952 circus movie “The Greatest Show on Earth,” on Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m., and a 2 p.m. matinee on Nov. 18.
Starring Charlton Heston and an all-star cast with the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus as the background, it was one of Cecil B. DeMille’s most ambitions films.
The FITZ focus is “Conservation through education.” From Wilson’s perspective, that means students learn how to operate a zoo – including the mundane and everyday tasks like cleaning, feeding and maintenance.
It also includes students learning everything there is to know about the animals and sharing that information with the visiting public through lectures and zoo tours. FITZ graduates are employed in many animal-related professions throughout the United States and Canada.
“The most important parts of our zoo,” Wilson maintained, “are the breeding programs. There are over 3,000 species of endangered animals that have been reintroduced back into the wild because of captive breeding programs.
“We are not an animal sanctuary,” he added. “Sanctuaries are like hospices for animals – where they come to live out their lives and die. We work closely with some of the tops zoos in the country to bring breeding pairs together. Very few of the animals in zoos come from the wild anymore.”
Wilson always had a love of animals while growing up in Kansas City, Mo. When he was 12, his mother enrolled him in a youth program at the Kansas City Zoo.
“I became friends with the director and by the time I got to college, I had experience working with lions, jaguars and polar bears, gorillas, chimps and many other animals and reptiles,” he said.
Wilson received a BS in biology and psychology from St. Joseph College (now Missouri Western State University).
“It was a small college and they let me emphasize animal behavior in my psych courses,” he said.
Wilson’s first job was as a keeper at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, a privately-owned facility some 6,000 feet up on a mountainside in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“I was mainly in the reptile department and spent some time with primates, elephants and bears,” he said. “But I soon learned that you can get pigeonholed in one department. The best way to experience everything is to become a veterinarian.”
After graduating from the University of Missouri in Columbia with his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, he worked in Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain and Kansas City again, and finally, the Houston Zoo.
“Veterinary medicine is often called ‘fire engine medicine.’ You don’t do anything very exciting for a week and then suddenly the gorilla grabs something and cuts its hand,” he said.
Wilson decided to go into general practice and in 1987 moved to Florida, where he ran an emergency clinic in Miami before opening his own practice in Belleview, handling small animals and exotics. That’s where he became involved with the zoo at the Market of Marion, eventually buying out the owners in 1989 and starting the zoo management program.
“Then the Florida real estate market boomed, and the market owners wanted to sell. They felt the zoo was a liability,” he said.
Wilson investigated moving the zoo to Ocala, but zoning regulations were difficult, so he chose the present 10,000-square-foot Bushnell location. In the meantime, Wilson was doing more and more work with circuses, specializing in elephants.
“Elephants can live for 30 to 35 years in captivity – three or four generations of a human family,” he said. “You get pictures of the kids, the grandkids and even great-grandkids on the back of the same elephant.”
Wilson is critical of the activists who have abetted the end to many of the big-circus animal acts. He cites the Royal Hanneford Circus, which started in Ireland in 1690, as one of the few touring circuses left in the U.S. with major animal acts.
“In the circus industry, the animals are so well taken care of,” he said. “And the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey management put so much effort and money into their breeding program, as well as putting millions into elephant conservation and research programs in Thailand and Sri Lanka. They never got credit for that.”
The main attractions at the Bushnell location include a pair of African spotted hyenas. Visitors can feed the hyenas – from a distance – and get photo documentation of their bravery for a $25 donation. While they look like very big dogs, the animals are immensely powerful and can crush cow leg bones in one bite.
“They’re the ‘laughing hyenas’ we hear about. But when they’re laughing, that’s not a good sign,” Wilson noted, adding that the patas monkeys are another big attraction.
FITZ has been the basis for about a quarter of the breeding stock for the species in zoos in the U.S. and Canada. The zoo has also been very successful in breeding jaguars, a particularly difficult process, Wilson says.
There also are parrots, cockatoos, lizards, tortoises, snakes, red kangaroos, African crested porcupines, lots of small birds, butterflies and other animals.
All zoo visitors receive a complimentary artifact demonstration and guided tour conducted by the FITZ students. A portion of the entrance fees help fund anti-poaching and other conservation activities overseas. The zoo is open on Saturdays and Sundays except during the summer. For hours and information, visit floridazooschool.com.
Wolfe, of the Rialto Theater, has been a longtime FITZ supporter. Wilson brought a jaguar cub for patrons to see at the opening of Disney’s “The Lion King” back in 1994.
“We’re really pleased that, outside of the film rental cost, all of the $15 ticket price from the family-oriented benefit will go directly to the zoo,” he said.
Tickets are available in advance at the Rialto Box Office and those wishing to attend the showing are advised to get their tickets early, as the movie likely will be a sellout.”
While many people have seen “The Greatest Show on Earth” on television, it is seldom shown on the big screen now. Running over two and a half hours with an intermission in the middle, it tells the dramatic story of a railroad circus and the lives of the people who make the show.
In addition, there will be pre-movie puppetry by Professor Brent DeWitt, antics from The Villages Clown Alley 179, cotton candy and circus packs of dry-roasted peanuts. To enjoy all of the festivities at the Rialto, guests are advised to arrive an hour or so before show time.
John W Prince is a writer and Villages resident. For more information visit www.GoMyStory.com.
