Jeff Corwin has come a long way since his childhood days spent gazing at reptiles at Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo. The conservationist and wildlife expert has written over 10 books, hosted multiple nature shows including The Jeff Corwin Experience and Corwin’s Quest – which even snagged an Emmy. While his career has exploded, one thing has remained the same: Jeff Corwin loves animals. Corwin’s passion for our planet and the critters we share it with is superseded only by his love for family. Fresh off an airplane, the husband and father of two indulged us with some of his valuable time (the guy travels 10 months out of the year to over 15 countries) and answered our questions on everything from how to follow in his footsteps to if having children made him rethink handling dangerous animals on a daily basis. Spoiler alert: It didn’t.
What advice would you give a kid hoping to have a career like yours? Where do you even start?
The good news about living in the United States is that we have opportunities. Texas is one of our most impressive regions when it comes to natural landscape. Texas is part of that gateway to Latin America. You have alpine habitats, desert habitats and coastal habitats … so it’s very important. It provides tremendous amounts of opportunity for people to explore and discover. Say, you dot your “I’s” and cross your “T’s”. You go to college and now you’re ready for a career. You have the university to research in and private institutions such as museums or foundations – from the Sierra Club to The Nature Conservancy, from the recreational to the federal level. Choose what your passion is. Be the best at what you want to be. You want to have the pedigree, foundation and experiences. If you want to be a snake scientist, be the best herpetologist you can be.
How can parents and educators communicate the importance of conservation to young children?
I think one of the most important roles that zoos and aquariums and museums can do is serve as a vehicle. I think we punish children by not letting them get out and explore. These are very important things that we just don’t do that much anymore and I think we pay a price for that. Especially when it comes to conservation, for me it’s about endangered species and it’s very hard to protect a species that you don’t have compassion for. I think we punish ourselves by not getting our kids get out there. Zoos and museums play an intricate role, especially if you’re living in a city.
What can kids do to help with conservation in their corner of the earth, even in an urban area like Dallas-Fort Worth?
There are tremendous things that we can do. Texas has so much to celebrate but also huge challenges, especially when it comes to water use. There are numbers of species that are critically endangered. The best resource you have – just like I had growing up – is a city zoo. I fell in love with [the zoo] and a local science center. These became resources for me. The best thing you can do is to get them to that resource as a volunteer; have them grow up around it. As a parent you need to be getting your kids outside. If there is a species in your region that is threatened, you should be there finding out how to help.
Some animals can be dangerous and unpredictable. In 2007 you had a close call with an elephant. Has becoming a father caused you to think about the situations you put yourself in more carefully?
Being a dad has made me eat less and exercise more. I don’t look at my life as a risk. It would be like saying to a pilot, “Don’t do that.” You follow the rules and hopefully nothing happens. There are no guarantees in this life. Life comes with risks and I don’t regret the risks I take because I try to take very calculated risks. That was one of the few times I’ve felt I was in trouble. You learn from that. There are lifestyle changes that many people make to become better parents. It’s made me appreciate my job even more. My oldest daughter was just helping me put hi-tech satellites on a giant urchin with a whole bunch of research scientists. What 9-year-old gets to do that on a Saturday afternoon?
How can parents teach children to have a healthy respect for wildlife?
Go on a walk on a trail system and if you see a snake take a picture and marvel. Picking up frogs and salamanders messes them up. It’s about being the fly on the wall to tell the story about what’s going on.
If you weren’t doing this as a career, what would you be doing?
I’d be a park ranger, working in fish and wildlife services or a professor I guess.
A local 5-year-old would like to know why caterpillars have fuzz.
They’re actually called urticating bristles; they’re an irritant. There are some caterpillars that have such an irritant that it can simulate a heart attack. Basically, it keeps other animals from eating them.
