Christian R. Schmidt

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Christian R. Schmidt

Christian R. Schmidt (born February 25, 1943 in Zurich , resident in Küsnacht , Canton of Zurich ) is a Swiss zoologist and behavioral biologist . In 1985 he was in Antwerp one of eight founders of the European Endangered Species Program (EEP) for the extinction of endangered species , and from 1994 to 2008 he was director of the Frankfurt Zoo .

Life

From 1950 to 1962 Christian Schmidt completed his school education, the Matura examination took place at the Oberrealschule Zurich . As a schoolboy, he volunteered to support the zoo keepers at Zurich Zoo from 1959 . During his biology studies at the University of Zurich in the subjects of zoology , anthropology , botany and - as a propaedeutic subject - paleontology , he kept in touch with Zurich Zoo, which was then headed by Heini Hediger . Hediger, who also held a titular professor of animal psychology in Zurich , hired Schmidt in 1963, initially as a scientific assistant in his animal psychology department at the University of Zurich at the zoological garden, and from 1966 as a scientific assistant paid for by the zoo. In 1976, Schmidt received his doctorate from Hediger with a study of the behavior of a group of zoo collar peccaries (Tayassu tajacu). From 1974 to 1994 he worked as curator for birds and mammals at Zurich Zoo and from 1991 as deputy zoo director for three years. On March 15, 1994, he moved as director to the Zoological Garden in Frankfurt am Main , which he managed until February 29, 2008. After his departure, the Frankfurt Zoo paid tribute to him on his website, in particular for the structural renovation and further development of the animal houses: “Dr. After the old cat house was demolished, Schmidt realized the new construction of the cat jungle, the renovation and increase in the attractiveness of the seal cliffs through underwater views, the maned wolf pampas and the planning of the Borgori forest for great apes. The conceptual redesign of the information systems with interactive elements was also carried out by Dr. Schmidt stimulated. ”In preparation for the new construction of the great ape facility he initiated, which opened a few months after the end of his tenure as“ Borgori Forest ”, he was responsible for the zoo management and behavior there for three months at the Atlanta zoo in 1989 of orangutans explored. As a replacement of outdated facilities were built during his tenure as a result of 1999 by the Municipality of the City of Frankfurt and the Frankfurt city council adopted Zoo target planning future more new plants and basic transformations for a total of around 25 million euros: petting zoo with dwarf goats (1994), Helmkasuar -Waldlichtung (1999 ), Okapi -Gehege (2000), owls -Taiga (2000), Zwergotter -Außenanlage (2004), Grzimek -Camp (2004), the second Okapigehege (2005), clouded Leopard Plant (2005), Rhino -Außenanlage (2006) Reitbahn (2006) and Gibbon House (2007).

Annemarie Schmidt-Pfister with Sirih, Petra Roth and Christian Schmidt at Frankfurt Zoo

In addition to his work for the two zoological gardens, Christian Schmidt held lectures on zoo biology and species protection at the University of Zurich from 1980 to 1994 and later - from 2001 to 2008 - at the University of Gießen . Since 1969 - again under the patronage of Zurich Zoo - he has kept the stud book for vicuñas , a South American species from the camel family , which he initiated in the same year at the then International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens , which was also published in 1985 on Schmidt's initiative was among the first 19 species of the European Endangered Species Program. From 1994 to 2005, as successor to Rosl Kirchshofer, he was coordinator of the conservation breeding program for the western lowland gorillas , whose stud book is kept at Frankfurt Zoo.

Christian Schmidt has lived again since 2008, together with his wife Annemarie Schmidt-Pfister, in Küsnacht near Zurich. The couple has been privately committed to breeding Rhodesian Ridgebacks for many years . Both became known as authors of children's books, in particular through the book Sirih, Little Sister , in which the rearing of several great ape babies (especially the orangutan child Sirih ) is described in their private apartment; Sirih was not accepted by her mother at Zurich Zoo, and her foster mother was found poisoned shortly afterwards. The son of the Schmidt family, the zoologist Fabian Schmidt, is senior curator at Leipzig Zoo and in particular responsible for Gondwanaland , a 16,500 square meter tropical house .

From 1988 to 1994 Christian Schmidt was President of the Friends of Serengeti Switzerland (FSS), from 1992 to 1994 Chairman of the Swiss CITES Commission, and from 1996 to 2008 Vice President of the Frankfurt Zoological Society . Since his return to Switzerland he has been a member of the board of the Zurich Zoological Society.

Honors

In September 2007 Christian Schmidt received the Award for Professional Excellence from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria for his services as co-founder of the European Conservation Breeding Program and for the innovative realignment of the zoos in Zurich and Frankfurt am Main .

In 2015 he was made an honorary member of the nature and animal park Goldau . He is also an honorary member of the Association of Zoological Gardens (VdZ) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

Publications (selection)

  • The blue neon, Hyphessobrycon simulans Gery 1963, a new tetra from Brazil. In: DATZ . Volume 16, No. 9, 1963, pp. 264-266
  • A Review of Zoo Breeding Programs for Primates. In: International Zoo Yearbook. Volume 24/25, 1986, pp. 102-123, doi: 10.1111 / j.1748-1090.1985.tb02525.x
  • The European Breeding Program (EEP). In: International Zoo News. Volume 34, No. 6, London 1987, pp. 4-7
  • with Annemarie Schmidt and Willi Rieser (illustrations): Zoo for children. Werd Verlag, Zurich 1988, ISBN 978-3-85932001-7
  • Pigs and peccaries. In: Grzimek's Encyclopedia Mammals. Volume 5: Artiodactyla, domestic mammals, mammals in the zoo. Kindler Verlag , Munich 1988, pp. 18-58, ISBN 978-3-463-42005-9
  • with Annemarie Schmidt: The book of animal families: bears. Children's book publisher Luzern , Aarau 1989, ISBN 978-3-27600056-1
  • with Annemarie Schmidt: The book of animal families: Apes. Children's book publisher Luzern, Aarau 1990, ISBN 978-3-27600092-9
  • with Annemarie Schmidt: The book of the animal family: pigs and peccaries. Children's book publisher Luzern, Aarau 1991, ISBN 978-3-27600105-6
    • Animal families: Pigs and Peccaries. Gareth Stevens Pub., Milwaukee 1994, ISBN 0-83681003-1
  • In memory of Heini Hediger. In: The Zoological Garden (NF). Volume 63, No. 3, 1993, pp. 153-158.
  • with Esther N. Signer and Alec John Jeffreys : DNA variability and parentage testing in captive Waldrapp ibises. In: Molecular Ecology. Volume 3, No. 4, 1994, pp. 291-300, doi: 10.1111 / j.1365-294X.1994.tb00069.x
  • with Annemarie Schmidt: Sirih, little sister. Children's book publisher Luzern, Aarau 1996, ISBN 978-3-27600164-3
  • as editor: Zoo Frankfurt: a place for animals and people. Zoological Garden, Frankfurt am Main 2003

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Short biography: Dr. Christian R. Schmidt. On: zoo-frankfurt.de , last viewed on January 23, 2019
  2. ^ Entry Vikunja in the zoo animal lexicon
  3. ↑ Short biography: Christian R. Schmidt, PhD. On: zoovideoarchive.org , last viewed on January 23, 2019
  4. ^ Entry Western gorilla in the zoo animal lexicon
  5. ↑ The Rhodesian Ridgeback: No Dog for Everyone. On the website of Annemarie Schmidt-Pfister and Christian R. Schmidt
  6. ↑ What is Sirih doing? ( Memento of February 1, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) First published on July 26, 2014
  7. ↑ Chief of the jungle world. On: tagblattzuerich.ch from 7 July 2015
  8. ↑ General Assembly of the Nature and Zoo Goldau on August 31, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Christian R.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss zoologist and behavioral biologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Küsnacht , Canton of Zurich