Who's Who: Meet Executive Zoo Director Dr. Christopher Kuhar

• Posted at 4:00 pm on January 31, 2013 by Joe Yachanin
• In Who's Who at the Zoo Comments: 2

Name: Dr. Christopher Kuhar

Residence: Strongsville

Hometown: Lorain, Ohio

What do you do at the Zoo? I am the newly hired Executive Director of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

What was the first Zoo job you ever had? I was an intern in the Conservation & Science department at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo back when the Conservation & Science department was the Curator of Conservation and Science and me.

Favorite animal: Jaguar

Favorite part of the Zoo: The islands of Waterfowl Lake on a summer morning when the gibbons are singing and the lemurs are calling.

Why I work at the Zoo: Because no other conservation organization has the ability to reach as many people and have a bigger impact than zoos.

Best thing about living in Northeast Ohio (other than the Zoo, of course!): The seasons and having access to the Metroparks. I’ve lived in a number of areas of the country and no one has a park system like we do.

A funny thing happened at the Zoo . . . When I was a seasonal here an 8-year-old kid came up to me and asked me if we had any Pongo pygmaeus (the scientific name for orangutans). I was in college and had just learned the term myself. It showed me that there are kids out there that are really into zoos and how important it is for us to give kids a place to learn.

One animal characteristic you wish you could have and why: Flying