The Cincinnati Zoo’s Thane Maynard Talks Wildlife and Conservation

Growing up in central Florida, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden executive director Thane Maynard spent most of his youth outside. With no indoor air-conditioning to combat the heat, Maynard found enjoyment by cooling off in lakes, streams and rivers, and even more so in what he could find living in them.

“We spent our days and nights trying to catch everything from snapping turtles to scarlet kingsnakes,” Maynard says. “The grand prize back then was if you could find a baby alligator.”

After earning a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies and a master’s degree in wildlife ecology, Maynard found a position at the Cincinnati Zoo working in education, which he has helped make a primary focus for the zoo in the years since. Today, the 67-acre zoo is pioneering conservation efforts across the globe and working with the local community to increase awareness for important ecological issues.

We talked with Maynard about how he keeps visitors engaged with the zoo, what they can look forward to when they visit and some of the most rewarding aspects of his job.

How do you keep visitors engaged and make them want to come back?
Zoos are fortunate because animals aren’t static. They’re always active and doing things in different ways. Our daily working motto is that the zoo is here to inspire every visitor with wildlife every day. And with that, we have all kinds of shows and encounters. … The nice thing is that people do care. They care about animals, they care about wildlife, and they want to protect nature. That’s a big part of what zoos can do.

What can people look forward to when visiting the zoo this summer?
In September, we’re going to open our new Elephant Trek facility, which is the biggest exhibit we’ve ever built. It’ll have Asian elephants, Asian small-clawed otters and rhinoceros hornbills. It’ll just be a really great tribute to the wildlife of Asia. For accredited zoos, it has come down to go big or go home with elephants. And we’ve committed for a long time, so it’ll be a great new addition this year.

What are some of the most rewarding aspects of what you do at the zoo?
What is rewarding is that Cincinnatians love their hometown treasures. They love our museums and our cultural arts centers and performing arts. People have a lot of history with this place, and it means a lot to them. I can say that it’s extremely heartening to see that what we do matters to people. I think a lot of businesses struggle to be relevant to their customers. And zoos, with our animals, I think are innately relevant to people.

For more information, visit cincinnatizoo.org.