Photo courtesy of Birmingham Zoo
Chris Pfefferkorn was named the CEO and president of the Birmingham Zoo in July. He takes the place of Dr. William Foster, who retired this summer.
“As a kid, I always collected every animal,” Chris Pfefferkorn said. He built dams for turtles to live in and would bring home frogs to take care of them. “I grew up being out in the woods and playing out there.”
So it makes sense that Pfefferkorn grew up to work in zoos and, in July, was named the CEO and president of the Birmingham Zoo. He takes the place of Dr. William Foster, who retired this summer.
Before Pfefferkorn graduated from Eureka College in Illinois with a degree in biology, he took a job at a local zoo as a part-time zookeeper and part-time horticulturist.
“So I cleaned [habitats] in the morning and mowed the lawn in the afternoon,” he said. “I left that first day knowing this was what I was going to do the rest of my life.” And he has.
Pfefferkorn worked as a keeper, an assistant curator, a general curator and a deputy director at the Oregon Zoo and the San Antonio Zoo before becoming senior vice president at the Birmingham Zoo in 2015. Pfefferkorn said he considers himself more of a “generalist” in zoos, working in many different facets.
“I always wanted to work with anybody and everybody,” Pfefferkorn said. “I really liked looking at all of it … I really tried to learn as much as I could and I’m still trying to learn as much as I can, because you never quit learning.”
Since his time at the Birmingham Zoo, Pfefferkorn has seen an upward trend of visits and worked on many projects, including the addition of inclusive programming, the opening of Henley Park and Event Lawn and the redesign of the front entrance of the zoo. All have improved the zoo, Pfefferkorn said, but in the future he wants to look at how “we utilize the zoo.”
By planning each pathway and looking at how to best use the grounds, the zoo would then have a master plan for the future.
That will “give you a road map for how you’re going to develop the zoo,” Pfefferkorn said. It’s something that would work with the zoo’s goal of being set up geographically, as they are doing with the Trails of Africa, Alabama Wilds and the future Asian Passage.
He also wants to continue emphasizing the importance of conservation through the zoo’s updated mission statement.
“It used to be ‘Inspiring passion for the natural world,’ but now it’s ‘Inspiring passion to conserve the natural world,’” he said.
Through a program called PICA (Passion into Conservation Action), staff at the zoo can apply for funding to do hands-on conservation anywhere in the world. He said it isn’t a photo safari — staff members work with an organization or researcher on a specific project.
“We have staff going all around the world and working here in Alabama,” Pfefferkorn said, adding that this past year saw the highest number of applications for local conservation that the zoo has ever had. And he said it started with guests simply visiting the zoo.
“I think that’s something we need to help our guests understand. Yes, our staff is out doing the actual conservation work, but we couldn’t do that without [guests],” he said. Their membership dues, admission tickets and donations help pay for the staff’s participation in the program.
As CEO and president, Pfefferkorn said he doesn’t want to make any big changes to the zoo but rather focus on completing the new front entrance and completing the Asian Passage. That, and continue serving and educating community members.
“The zoo has a lot of opportunity to continue raising its profile both here within the zoo and the community and the state even. … I believe the zoo is a resource to the community. Dr. Foster always said that, and I always believe it’s true,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to what we can do.”
