WINNIPEG – The new director of the Assiniboine Park Zoo is a veterinarian who has worked for Sea World California and the San Diego Zoo and was executive director of the Living Coast Discovery Center in California.
Dr. Brian Joseph is the new director of zoological operations at the zoo, replacing the popular Tim Sinclair-Smith, who returned to his native Australia in June.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have someone with Brian’s level of knowledge and expertise coming on board here at the Assiniboine Park Zoo,” Assiniboine Park Conservancy COO Don Peterkin said in a news release. “His unique and extensive background make him a very sought-after individual, so this is a real coup for us.”
Joseph has more than 40 years of experience working at aquariums, museums, nature centres and zoos in the U.S., the conservancy news release says.
He has been involved in long-range strategic planning, exhibit and facility design and construction, field research and animal rehabilitation, and is a U.S. army reserve veterinarian who has participated in humanitarian efforts around the world, the conservancy says.
He has also published papers and studies in more than 25 professional journals.
Joseph joins the zoo as it prepares to open its big-budget Journey to Churchill exhibit. A second resident for the new International Polar Bear Conservation Centre, part of the Journey to Churchill initiative, was recently identified after a wild bear attacked a man in Churchill, Man. If the zoo hadn’t become involved the bear would have been euthanized.
“The plans for Assiniboine Park Zoo are extraordinary, and I’m very happy to be joining such a great team of people here in Winnipeg,” Joseph said in the news release. “It’s such an incredibly exciting time for the zoo right now, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.”
“Being able to attract someone of Brian’s caliber to this position says a lot about how far we’ve come as a leader in the zoo community,” Peterkin said.
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