Oregon Zoo's elephant expert will be interim director

Keele, 56, will take over for Tony Vecchio on July 7. Vecchio is leaving to become director of the Jacksonville, Fla., zoo.

Keele has worked at the zoo for nearly 38 years and was immersed in the zoo's successful elephant breeding program. He currently is deputy director of living collections, which includes overall supervision of animal health and care.

Keele said he hasn't decided whether he'll seek the directorship, but said the interim position would give him a feel for the job. Metro, the regional government that operates the zoo, plans a national search for a new director.

The job is likely to generate a lot of attention in the relatively small universe of zoo administrators, said Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan. The Oregon Zoo is considered a successful facility, having set attendance records nine of the past 11 years. The new director also will have a $125 million bond -- approved by voters last November -- with which to make capital improvements.

Among the projects the bond will pay for is an expansion of elephants' compound at the zoo. In addition, the zoo is looking for a large off-site property that will be used as an elephant reserve. The plan is to shuttle elephants to and from the reserve on a rotation basis.

Keele said zoo staff is evaluating various sites, some of them on Metro-owned property.

Twenty-five elephants have been born at the zoo since Packy arrived in April 1962, and Keele is best known for his work in that area. He helped create a species survival plan adopted by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and maintains the Asian elephant "studbook" that tracks the status of every Asian elephant at AZA facilities.

He began work at the zoo in 1971. His first job was to care for research animals, including rats, mice and armadillos. Keele worked briefly in security before moving into the animal care field. He worked with the zoo's elephants full-time from 1975 to 1980, and intermittently after that as he moved up the administrative ranks.