Robin's Nest from American Humane - Rob Yordi, Zoological VP Seaworld

Episode Date: December 18, 2023

Rob Yordi is the Zoological Vice President and General Curator of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Rob has spent his entire career protecting nature and has been inspiring and educating people through decades of work at SeaWorld.  He has over 30 years of in the zoological field and has helped to administer the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund grants.

Welcome to Robin's Nest. So many of us have a deep connection with the animals around us and want to protect them from the pets in our homes to endangered species in the wild. That's why I joined American Humane. As one of the oldest and most effective animal protection groups, we help billions of animals around the world. Join us as we explore how we can build a more humane world together. Hello and welcome to Robin's Nest. I'm Dr. Robin Ganzert and this is the official podcast of American Humane and Global Humane, the nation's first and most experienced humane

organization focused on the protection of animals all over the world, including certifying zoos and aquariums, being the first boots on the ground in crises and rescues, making sure animals are safe in the filming of movies on sets globally, protecting a billion animals and farms, and our military veterans and military dog programs. There's so much to talk about with American Humane's power to touch lives and keep animals safe and loved. And today we are inspiring millions of people to love nature and save animals, whether on land or in the seas. I am so excited that to help guide us through this important conversation on conservation is guest

Rob Yorty, Zoological Vice President and General Curator for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and the Executive Director of SeaWorld and Bush Gardens Conservation Fund. We are so glad that you, our listeners, are taking time to hear some remarkable stories and we want to hear what you think after you've listened. Please make sure to review Robin's Nest on your podcast platform. Hello friends and hello Rob Yorty. We are so excited that you have joined us today. You have spent your entire career protecting nature. You inspire and you educate through decades of work at SeaWorld and American Humane was excited, in fact, thrilled, to have recently certified SeaWorld Abu Dhabi through our conservation program.

Congratulations on that significant victory for the animals. I am so thrilled to welcome Rob Yorty to Robbins Nest today. You know, Rob, you have had the most amazing career in conservation. You've been on the front lines protecting animals. You've traveled the world saving animal lives. You've educated millions through your work with SeaWorld and, of course, leading the Bush Gardens Conservation Fund. Amazing work. And now you are leading efforts in Abu Dhabi, a very exotic place, with the launch of the new SeaWorld Abu Dhabi program. Rob, it's so great to have you in Robin's Nest today. How are you? I am doing wonderful, Robin. Thank you for inviting me.

And don't forget to add to the fact that I get to be on Robin's Nest after doing all of those things. Now I get to join you. But this is a very exciting opportunity to talk conservation, to talk to animal welfare, and really about what's going on in the world of animals. I love that, Rob. And you're always welcome to join us in Robin's Nest, I'll tell you that. It's a fun place to be for all of us who love animals. And Rob, I can think of no bigger animal lover than you. When I think about the stories that you've shared about your various adventures around the world, I just want to give our incredible listeners today an opportunity to take a peek into your background. Can you share with us some of the most exciting adventures you've had in the front lines in conservation? Well, I will tell you, I was very lucky to have grown up in Southern California.

My parents decided to raise the family in Seal Beach, California. Very, very prophetic place for me to grow up. Very close to the Pacific Ocean. Opportunities to be in the water all the time and understand animals from a very early age. Was one of those little kids that very, very early on, as a little kid, I knew what I was going to do. And I'm still doing it to this day, which is really very exciting about this. Having opportunities to work in the field with some of the greats like Brad Andrews and his team at Marineland, Dr. Chris Dold and the team at SeaWorld, and then working with our SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, being lucky enough to travel the world representing the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks, but also taking team members with me.

I think one of the biggest things that I've taken from doing that is getting people out in the field. I like to go first, and then I like to bring everybody else with me. You know, some of those big, big moments, one of the ones that really stands out was the first chance I had to go see penguins in their natural environment. I've worked with penguins for most of my career between marine land and SeaWorld, but I got a chance to go to the Galapagos Islands. I co-wrote a research project with Hernan Vargas at the Charles Arwin Station a number of years ago and went out there, took a boat overnight, so didn't really see anything, slept overnight, got up and the sun was coming up and six Galapagos penguins were swimming around the boat when we moored. And it's one of those ones that no matter how many times I tell the story, I still can't truly capture it

to understand what it's like to see the animals that you care for and that you show the guests and you want to make sure they understand conservation to actually be in the field and see them firsthand and see them thriving and knowing that that communication and that teaching that you're doing is hopefully having an impact in the natural environment. I love that. Penguins, what a great adventure. And then to fast forward it to what you've done with so many penguin environments too. You know, meeting someone like you, of course, you're a legend in the space. I have to always ask, because I like to ask folks in Robin's Nest,

your favorite animal, your favorite pet. So that's like asking what your favorite dog is out of all the dogs you've had in your life. I've worked with so many amazing animals from killer whales and walruses to rhinos, giraffes, lions, wolves. Everything throughout my career has been amazing. But I don't want to upset any of the keepers that take care of those animals that I've worked with. Because if I say, oh, you know, a jaguar would be my favorite cat, then maybe I would upset the cheetah people. And if I say rhino is my favorite large animal, then the elephant. So the easiest answer for me is my favorite animal. It goes along with the same one as a Labrador retriever, because if I don't say that and I go home, then I get in

trouble at home. And I'd rather not be in trouble at home than I would with everybody else. So that's my easy answer. I love that. Is there a favorite lab at your home today? Well, I have my two labs at home, and that is Chaos and Shaker. Both of them are rescues. One came from the Healdsboro Humane Society here, and another one came from Lab Rescue. They are mid to late age animals, but they are wonderful. They've been with me on a couple adventures. And it's just a number of the labs that I have had over my entire life. They're the ones that resonate with me, and they are just very special animals. I love that.

Rob, we're going to pivot here and go back into the space of conservation because, again, your career is so fascinating. There have been a lot of projects you've worked on, but one very recent project has been building a new facility in Abu Dhabi. SeaWorld Abu Dhabi just opened up a couple of months ago. It's a gorgeous facility. And I know you've spent a large percentage of time over the past five, six years, maybe longer on the development. Can you share with us your vision for SeaWorld Abu Dhabi and tell us what's going on there? and tell us what's going on there.

So this was a truly amazing project to be able to partner with Morale in Abu Dhabi to be able to bring SeaWorld there. This is a combination of 60 years of experience from the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove parks into all the things that we always wanted to do, having a partner that supported us on animal welfare. And one of the really important things at the very beginning was taking the cannons that American Humane has and making sure

that we exceeded those, not only met what you want, but exceeded those in the design and the construction before you and your team ever got a chance to see what we were doing. Seven and a half years worth of work. And just it was been an incredible ride. Nine weeks ago, we got to open the park. You and your team were gracious enough to come join us and see what we've done. And it's one of those that no matter how many times I talk about it, and I've been the lead zoo designer on it now and the general curator overseeing the zoo department and helping take care of all the animals but even describing it doesn't do it justice whether it's the the deepest and largest marine life aquarium in the world at 66 feet or for everybody else in the world besides the u.s 20 meters um having a a dolphin habitat that's the length of a U.S. football field, all those things.

And then everything that's the enrichment part and the welfare part in the animals, trying to understand what animals need and then how we put it in place. So getting that facility open nine weeks ago and getting guests in and getting a chance to see this. But also, in addition to the park, to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, we built the YAS SeaWorld Research and Rescue Center, which is a dedicated marine animal research and rescue center for the region. It's the first time that SeaWorld has been able to put everything together in one building. We go back to our history of that, and research was at the very beginning before the first SeaWorld even opened. Rescue was right off the bat, and education was a huge cannon. So those three pillars are in our center,

and that has allowed to help us start to build relationships and work around the region. We can respond to any marine animal in distress in the entire MENA region if we're called. We just commissioned our two marine wildlife ambulances, the first ever in the region. So that's really exciting. We have boats that we need. We have trucks. We have everything that we can do to respond. And then with the experience that SeaWorld brought over, a number of the staff from the SeaWorld U.S. Parks came over and helped start this. So they've brought 15, 20, 25 years of

their own rescue experience to apply to this program itself. So we have the SeaWorld Abu Dhabi Park that is welcoming guests and enriching and teaching and exciting everybody about marine life. And then, yes, SeaWorld Research and Rescue, which is the core of taking care of the marine wildlife off the coast and also learning as much as we can about it. What I love about that is SeaWorld has a storied legacy of rescue, as you mentioned, and to take it to the MENA region. And for our friends here with us in Robin's Nest, MENA region means? Middle East, North Africa. So very warm part of the world, but also very rich region when it comes to marine life.

Dugong, finless porpoise, Indo-Pacific bottlenose, Indian Ocean humpback dolphins, also humpback whales. We've had killer whales come by Abu Dhabi just recently. And then just a massive plethora of different species of corals. Corals that are truly amazing. Corals that routinely throughout the summer live in 95, 96, 97 degree water and survive and are successful. So being able to study and research that, there's a huge, huge history in Abu Dhabi of seafaring, whether it's fishing, whether it's pearl diving, whether it's exploration, but all of that we tie into the park so we can tell the story, not just of the entire ocean, but of the region itself and why the region is so important to global conservation. You know, you do tell the story at SeaWorld Abu

Dhabi of the region and of the importance. And I was impressed with the vast diversity of animals that are in the region. And I think a lot of us never even occurred to us to think about the various marine life and the rich diversity of those ecosystems that they support. It is stunning. I particularly want to go back to the fact your new rescue center has boats, did you say, and ambulances. Again, go through that incredible list of tools that you have access to, to provide the first ever type of rescue center for these incredible creatures in the Middle East and North Africa region. So if we look at the SeaWorld history for research rehabilitation in return, you go back to the beginning of the parks. Everything we've learned over the last 60 years, all three of our parks

have rescue centers in them, whether it's San Diego, San Antonio, or Orlando. And it's with combining all of those knowledge, I was able to take all of those experts, besides my knowledge, putting them together, and one, building a facility that is something that's never been seen before for the scope and scale of being able to support all those animals, but also making sure we have all of the right equipment so those experienced people can move at the drop of a hat. As soon as we hear from the Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi, we want you to mobilize here, want you to go over the coast to Murpho, want you to go across to Oman, anywhere they want us to go, we can go very quickly.

One of the species that we put into a rescue and having to be able to for the rescue program is one of my personal favorites, which is sea snakes. Most people try to avoid them, highly venomousous and they just stay away and leave them but we wanted to make sure that they're such an integral part of the environment in Abu Dhabi we wanted to have a program that we can do rehab in return for those animals if they actually beat so everything along the coast that would that would show up we can respond to very quickly and take care of and hopefully get back out into the natural environment. And that's your goal with this rescue and rehab program is to do the re-release?

Yes, we want everything that comes in to go back out. Now, we know that that doesn't always happen. We have animals throughout our sea world parks in the U.S. that the U.S. government has deemed non-releasable and we have given them a forever home. We are prepared to do that if we need to, but that is not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is we want everything back out in the natural environment. I tell people all the time when they come and tour for the first time, because it's a new thing for the region to have something like this that is focused strictly on research and rescue. And they'll say, well, when are you going to do your first rescue? And I always say, well, hopefully never. Because if we don't have to rescue anything, that means that the environment off the coast

is healthy. But we know we'll be ready there. We have some wonderful partners in the region. The Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi oversees everything in the UAE. And they are incredible. Their knowledge base and their history, their scientists, they are incredible. They're knowledge base and they're history, they're scientists, they're just amazing people to work with. And then we have regional partners that are doing work, whether they're in Abu Dhabi, in Dubai, in Sharjah, any of the Emirates will have their

groups as well. And we want to partner and work with them. In fact, the Dubai Sea Turtle Hospital had a sea turtle recently that was having some buoyancy problems and asked if they could bring the turtle up to Sewol Abu Dhabi because we actually have a CT machine for all of our animals. And so that's something that's not in the region anywhere else for rescue animals. We said, sure, bring the turtle on up. She came up, did a full scan, figured out what they needed to do. And then just recently that turtle was released. So we will help other groups as long as they need help. It's not just about SeaWorld or Abu Dhabi or the center. It's about the region and it's about the animals that need the help and we will help wherever we're needed. And I understand too that this is truly a crown jewel in Abu Dhabi when you see this

beautiful facility, not only the rescue and rehab, but also the proper SeaWorld Abu Dhabi when you see this beautiful facility, not only the rescue and rehab, but also the proper SeaWorld Abu Dhabi Park. It's majestic, and it's devoted to something that I know is so near and dear to your heart, and that's educating the next generation of conservationists. Share with us why that is so important to you. Well, if we go back to the beginning of SeaWorld, SeaWorld is built on education and it is making sure that people understand the ocean and understand how important it is and understand the impact that they can make. You know, it's not just what we're teaching and what we do is what they can do. We hope that the next marine animal veterinarian or the next dolphin behaviorist or

the next dugong rescuer comes from a visit to SeaWorld. They come and see what we do. They get engaged. We have educators throughout the park, and not only the education staff, which is phenomenal, and they are interspersed in every area of the park you're going to go to, but also our staff gets a chance to go out and talk with this thing. So you may see them working the walruses or working with the sea otters or working with the dolphins and then popping out and talking to the guests. And it's amazing to watch the faces on the little ones when they actually get a chance to watch someone that could be their hero.

If they just watch them working with a walrus and then they're going to come out and talk to them, that was me as that little kid. And I really hope that we are meeting and exceeding the expectations for the region when it comes to education, because that was one of the first things they challenged us to is to come over and teach people about the ocean. So at the very beginning of the project, that's what we built this around, did some incredible work on design and development of educational spaces and educational programs, put together an amazing team. And now it's our chance that guests are coming in, that we get a chance to actually teach them. And then you move over to the center and we also built a large

auditorium, wet and dry classrooms, so we can bring very targeted school programs into that to learn about specific, whether they're talking about corals, whether we're talking about fish, the specific things that the school programs in the UAE really dictate that they need, we can then go and work with that. That's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. Congratulations. Again, a long-term project for you from the ground up. Not too many parks are being built in these days anymore. Brand new park is a rarity. The kind of capital that was required to put this together was significant, but most importantly, it was built with animal welfare excellence being the very core and foundation, and I applaud you for that. So well done. Thank you. Yeah, it takes the right partner. We have SeaWorld, we have

Merall in the UAE. They are the right partner. They believe what we do. They have a vision for Yaz Island. They have a vision for Abu Dhabi and they understand the importance of that. But the key was bringing the right people together. It's always about the people. Conservation is about people. You have to have the right base to be able to do that. We were lucky enough to have someone that is near and dear to your heart at American Humane and Brad Andrews was with me at the beginning of that project. So a lot of the vision that we had to start and a lot of the goals that were set, Brad helped set. And then which was so amazing when you and Brad and the team came over for the grand opening, for him to see what his vision was like.

And for you to see, I would hope you watching him see it for the first time was pretty special. But it does take the right people. And I think that the two companies being SeaWorld and Morale really have those people that can take this vision and drive it forward. Yes. Rob, you mentioned Brad Andrews. Brad is our Global Director of Conservation now at American Humane and Global Humane, where we're working in international waters. I tell you, Brad has been a visionary in the zoological space, in the marine life space, and we're thrilled that he's come here to American Humane to help drive our programmatic initiatives. And I would hope he's considered a visionary because he was visionary enough to hire me in 1984. Yes, I love that.

You know, we talked a lot about how you're educating the next generation, but today you're also making a difference by funding conservation projects through the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund. Can you tell us a little bit about your incredible work there? So I've been very fortunate to have the support from SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. We created the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund in 2003. Very familiar name again. Brad Enders was the beginning of that. So another vision for what he wanted. But that has been going forward. We've given over $20 million since 2003. and three, and these are projects all over the world. We have projects on every continent, projects that reigns in conservation from anti-poaching to conservation education, habitat protection, species research. I actually just sat with our current president, Dr. Chris Dole from SeaWorld yesterday talking about what we're going to focus on going forward for some of our bush gardens projects, because we'll have terrestrial for bush gardens we'll have marine for sea world but it's really one of those that you know it's it's where my heart is being able to go out and not only fund the projects but there's the intangible information

there's stuff that we learn in the parks that we can share with the people on the ground you know one of my my favorite stories is the Pan American Conservation Association, which some of your staff has visited in Panama. We started funding Nestor Correa in 2006 when he was driving around in a pickup truck, pricking up baby sloths. And he didn't have any facilities, didn't have anything else. Him and his wife were just trying to raise things. And we have been working with him, not just with funding, but with sending people down, bringing his team up, doing lots of teams, doing workshops for the government in Panama, working with the U.S. Embassy, working with everybody possible to get APPC up to a level that they wanted to be at. They are now the number one wildlife rescue in Panama. All this loss basically go to them.

The government is very proud of them, actually continues to brag about them. The government is very proud of them, actually continues to brag about them. But it really is the core of us being able to help them get to where they wanted to go. And that's just one of the many examples of those, as Dr. Dole calls them, legacy projects, where you see that there was very little at the beginning and then getting those things going and getting other zoos. Bill Street at the Indianapolis Zoo supports them now and a number of other facilities. So really getting that awareness of how important those projects are and seeing the people that are on the ground, seeing the people that are doing the frontline work. As you talk about people being on the frontline, those are the people I like to be with is the people that are doing the work. And so I can go help and then we can get staff over. But

the St. Roland Bush Gardens Conservation Fund is such a core so I can go help and then we can get staff over. But the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund is such a core piece to what we are and who we are. So you've got education, conservation, research, rescue, all of those pillars in the SeaWorld parks and the Busch Gardens parks. But the Conservation Fund really, to me, is one of the true cores of what we do. As we wrap up our time together in Robin's Nest, Rob, I have to share,

ask you something to get your thoughts on. You know, people talk about conservation. We're encouraging people to do conservation in their own backyard, support larger scale programs. Of course, when you go visit a SeaWorld or a SeaWorld Abu Dhabi park, you're certainly providing dollars that go into conservation funding, rescue and rehab work, which is incredibly noble and laudable. You know, there's an urgency around this work with the six-mast extinction. As we kind of close out today's session, how would you talk to people about the urgency of saving species from extinction and the war that we're in on the ground? I think one that I use very often in getting the point across of how

important saving animals are and how important conservation and understanding is talking about the poaching crisis. It's talking about whether it's rhinos in South Africa, whether it's tigers in Asia, whether it's totoaba, a fish in the Gulf of California, which is causing the extinction level work for the vaquita, all of those things, it's talking about what drives it. And it's lack of understanding, it's lack of education, lack of communication. And it's not people are ignorant. The people just don't know. They've not been given that information. I know working with one of the people that you now fortunately have worked with recently,

Adrian Gardner, one of your conservation champions, his focus has always been, I have to engage the local people first. Before I can ever go off and take care of the animals, I have to find a way to take care of the people. And that really has resonated. And so talking with the guests, talking about getting involved, whether it's getting involved and understanding what's going in around where you live or picking a species that you truly are excited about. It's very easy for me to get excited about rhinos. I've spent a lot of time working with rhinos and working with Adrian and Tara and that team on rhino work. But it's getting people to understand the impact of what happens if those

animals aren't there. You know, if this is going to wipe out a species, how is that going to change things? You know, I always hear people say, well, I want my kids to see this, you know, these animals in the wild. Well, then you have to, you have to be educated. You have to do some, you have to find groups to support. And I really, one of the things that I encourage people to do is travel. They've got to get out and get away and see things in the natural environment. I call it my story about penguins for the first time, but I can think of each species that I've worked with that I've gone and seen for the first time in the natural environment. It's been so overwhelming, but it's so motivating to say, what more can I do?

And then getting a chance to listen and talk to the giants in the industry. You know, the, the Adriens, the Wolfgang Kiesling, Robin Gamzer, Brad Andrews, all of those people that have made such a big, big impact on the industry itself is even more motivating. So encourage people to go listen to speakers if they get the opportunity at their local university or some way if somebody's doing a tour to go find out what's going on, but they find that favorite animal, so to speak, and then what can I do to help? But it really is,

the biggest thing is just learning, learning about it. And the more you learn, the bigger your heart gets and the more you get a chance to want to do something. I always say, as you know, you can't protect what you don't love. You can't love what you don't know. And a lot of us have the opportunity now to know animals, to love them and protect them because of you, Rob. So thank you for what you do every day. Robin, it's been a pleasure. I always get to have a great time getting a chance to talk to you and the team. And what you do is so incredible. I've seen the growth of this. I'm so excited to see how American Humane and Global Humane start to do their work in Africa, working with Adrian and Taryn. But that was a little tiny idea that talking with Brad Andrews a number of

years ago is could we focus on certifying reserves and making sure they do it right, because they do such amazing work, finding the right partners, but just seeing the work that American Humane and Global Humane and being certified at SeaWorld Abu Dhabi as the first in the MENA region was such an honor, but it shows that we are doing it right and we will continue to do it right and continue to hopefully teach people how to do it right. That's wonderful. Thank you so much, Rob. And we're so grateful that you've been with us in Robbins Nest. See you soon. Thanks, Rob, and I had a great time.