GLAD 20 YEARS - Flipbook - Page 51
Now, listen…
At Glad, we have four annual info-meetings where the entire Copenhagen staff meets in The Tartlet
to hear what’s new in the organisation and the regional departments. As the meetings are recorded
and transmitted live, we always start with waving to colleagues around the country. Many curious
things have been said over the years never the less Mikkel Holmbäck received the staff’s undivided
attention when in 2014 he declared:
“Now, listen here. We have acquired a zoo in Jutland! Naturally, it will be named Glad Zoo, and here
are photos of some of the animals.”
Everyone cheered. And when everyone had seen the moody heron, the beautiful Asian wild dogs,
the tapir Helmut, which peed on people whenever the chance occurred, it made perfect sense to
everyone that Glad should have its own zoo. This is what Glad is, but also because Glad Zoo is a coveted place of education for an increasing number of students at the zookeeper line at the vocational
school in Esbjerg. Every so often you need to be a little creative, and chairman of the board at Glad
foundation John Schmidt was precisely that with Glad Zoo.
Because the zoo serves as both a normal attraction and a school, Glad Zoo’s manager Dennis
Hein Jensen has taken on an unusual assignment in comparison to his colleagues in other zoos.
“Two very different sets of legislation have to be implemented simultaneously. My main task is
to run the zoo and attract visitors. The educational aspect is also part of my task, while Marianne
Andersen is in charge of the actual school. We run into challenges every now and then. The reward
is that we succeed. Glad Zoo improves every year,” Dennis Hein Jensen explains.
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