As Col. Herriott would say, "let's see the credentials"

A lot of our reader's may not know Allen W. Nyhuis, other then being the person who made this statement: "On the other hand, real zoo experts such as "Jungle" Jack Hanna and Yours Truly testified on behalf of the LA Zoo. Thankfully, with the real facts on our side, the Los Angeles City Council sided with our side and Pachyderm Forest is about to open this fall"

As Col. Herriott is awful concerned about qualifications, and rightfully so, and as I hung paper for David Hancocks the other day in an attempt to qualify him, I thought it was only fair to offer the same courtesy to Mr. Nyhuis. Let's see if we can assertain who "our side" is and also learn more about Allen's credential's to testify on behalf of captive elephants in a court of law in California(other then being born in the state of California):

I was born in California but grew up in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I developed my love for travel and for zoos during my family’s frequent zoo visits and many cross-country vacations. After high school, I joined the U.S. Army and spent the better part of three years in Hawaii, training in field artillery. Living there stoked my interest in seeing more exotic locations and the fauna that inhabit them. Following my discharge, I earned my Bachelor's and Master's Degrees at the University of Wisconsin and then went to work for the U.S. Census Bureau for a year in the Washington area (my Master's is in Statistics). I moved to Indianapolis in 1984 when I began my career as a statistician in the field of medical research.

My interest in zoos stayed with me as I grew up, married, and had children. In 1988, just about the time my children were getting old enough to enjoy zoos, the brand new Indianapolis Zoo opened, whetting my appetite still further. I started visiting zoos in other cities while on business trips and discovered how fascinating and different every zoo is. I was so interested in them that I wrote long, detailed descriptions of the zoos I visited to my brother and fellow zoo-lover, David. He finally told me I "ought to" write a book about zoos. So in 1994, I wrote The Zoo Book: A Guide to America's Best. I've been a member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for over 15 years.

In addition to working full-time for Eli Lilly and visiting every zoo I possibly can — over 200 worldwide so far, I teach statistics part-time as an Adjunct Professor for Indiana University's School of Public Health. My wife Kathy is kind enough to indulge me in my zoo habit. We are the proud parents of four children.

You folks may have wondered what I meant in my response to Allen in regards to "Jungle Jack" Hanna by the use of the term "self serving". The ad lib's in the "suggested" question's below should help clarify. I must admit my mistake in not including Allen in the lineup with Marlin Perkins, "Jungle Jack", and "Crocodile Hunter".

Interview notes for Allen Nyhuis

America’s Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans & Families

Suggested Introduction

Here’s an interesting statistic: America’s zoos have a higher total attendance than professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey combined. More than 150 million people each year! Now what this means is that a lot of you have probably been to the local zoo lately. But how many of you think of going to a zoo when you’re on vacation? Very few of you. That’s what studies show. Our next guest is out to change that!

Allen Nyhuis is the co-author of America’s Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans & Families, a new guidebook to the nation’s 60 best zoos. He’s a statistician by trade, a father of four, and he’s traveled the nation and the world, visiting more than 200 zoos and aquariums.

Commonly Asked Questions:

Allen, we have a great zoo right here in our city. Why would our listeners want to make a trip to another? All zoos are pretty much the same, right?

First, I agree that _________ Zoo is very good — one of America’s Best Zoos. That’s why it’s in our book. And I encourage all your listeners to visit and support this fine zoo.

So what about our [hometown zoo]? What do you like best, and what should listeners be sure not to miss?

[Ad lib. Author will tailor the answer to your local zoo.]

I notice your book talks about exhibits in progress as well as those that are already open. What brand new zoo exhibits opening this year are you most excited about?

[Ad lib. Author will highlight new attraction(s) coming to your region.]

Okay, I can’t resist: Just which zoo is the very best in America?

To be honest, we don’t like to evaluate that way. As I said earlier, no two zoos are the same, and similarly, everybody has their own likes and dislikes. A zoo with an excellent children’s section might be “the best” for a family with small kids. On the other hand, many boys would pick a zoo with a top-rated snake and reptile house. So, with all of these differing viewpoints in mind, we didn’t try to rank zoos first, second, third and so on.

We carefully chose the 60 zoos which, for a wide variety of reasons, we feel deserve to be classified as America’s best. We leave it to you to visit all of them and choose your own personal favorite.

What we have done, however, is single out 20 different categories and list the Top Ten zoos in each and then offer our own opinion about which zoo is best in each category. For example, we felt that the San Diego Zoo is best at exhibiting bears, the Cincinnati Zoo is number one for wild cats, and the Bronx Zoo is America’s best place to see Asian animals.

Did our zoo make it into any of these Top Ten lists?

[Ad lib.]

Where can our listeners get a copy of America’s Best Zoos?

America’s Best Zoos is available in bookstores, online stores (including Amazon), and zoo gift shops, or through AmericasBestZoos.com, where we offer some free bonuses that provide even more information than we had room for in the book.

• • •

Additional Questions:

How did you happen to write America’s Best Zoos?

How did you research and write the book? How many zoos did you two travel to?

How long did it take?

What’s your favorite animal?

What is your view of the recent tiger tragedy at the San Francisco Zoo? Are today’s zoos truly safe for visitors?

Tell us about some animals that would no longer exist if not for zoos?

How did you get Newt Gingrich to write the Foreword for the book?

Allen W Nyhuis, Co-Author
America's Best Zoos: A Travel Guide for Fans and Families

Due respect Allen, my profession has some of the greatest folks in the world supporting us. They are known as The Circus Fans of America. They have taken over the years, some of the most incredible photographs, and collected, compiled, and stored some of the most amazing facts and statistics. But they have never caught a triple summersault, turned a back flip of a teeterboard, trainer a tiger, elephant, horse, etc. etc. They are not experts, they are fan's. Never to be mistaken in a court of law for an expert, just too much overwhelming partiality. They have the love of the circus, good and/or bad regardless, as their source of knowledge. So, now you are qualifed, just like I qualifed David Handcocks.