The recent appointment of a new executive director, Craig Dinsmore, at Hogle Zoo ends an era at the zoo.
After serving as director for 32 of his nearly 44 years at the zoo, LaMar Farnsworth will soon retire, becoming director emeritus on March 24, the effective date of Dinsmore's appointment.Dinsmore has been vice president and general curator of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Farnsworth will be a consultant to the zoo, probably for about two years.
"This zoo is what it is today because of LaMar," says zoo board chairman James E. Hogle Jr. "What you see today in the way of structures, animals and species - that is LaMar's legacy."
Farnsworth has joked that he has been at the zoo longer than any other animal but only about a year longer than Kali, an Asian elephant who was born in the wild outside the United States and who came to the zoo in 1954.
Hogle Zoo, which has been located at the mouth of Emigration Canyon since Aug. 1, 1931, had its beginnings in 1912 at Salt Lake's Liberty Park. Princess Alice, another elephant, and a few other animals were among the population.
An account from the city's Municipal Record and published in a book, "The Hogles," by Gerald M. McDonough says: "There is an old ramshackle building out at Liberty Park which in its confines houses a regular Noah's Ark . . . the animals are closely crowded together, and there is our elephant (Princess Alice) . . . her kind eyes look down at her neighbors in confinement, two lions, one lioness, two hyenas, two leopards, two Japanese deer, two reindeer, an alligator and, screeching loudly, seven parrots."
By the time Farnsworth began work at the zoo in 1953, the animal preserve had acquired 200 animals. The zoo now has about 1,400 animals.
The zoo is located on 52 acres, of which approximately 47 acres are used for animal exhibits. The present property was deeded to Salt Lake City by James A. and Mary C. Hogle. The zoo's animals, buildings and property are still owned by the city, said James E. Hogle Jr., a grandson of James A. and Mary C. Hogle and chairman of the zoo board.
A zoologist by training, Farns-worth is well known by employees, friends and family for his love of animals. He was a charter member and a former member of the governing board of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, the largest and most prestigious organization of its kind in the United States.
Hogle Zoo education curator Rich Hendron, who has been a zoo employee since 1975, said Farnsworth "taught the zoo business to many of us - dedication, knowledge and endless compassion for both wildlife and employees. Every facet of this zoo reflects his caring."
Farnsworth is a member of the International Union of Directors Zoological Garden World Zoo Organization, which is based in Paris, and secretary of the International ZooCulturists Society.