Dan Ashe’s leadership of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has become a case study in institutional self-sabotage. Like Neville Chamberlain’s misguided belief that he could negotiate with those committed to destruction, Ashe continues to pursue “dialogue” with organizations whose explicit mission is eliminating the very institutions he represents. This appeasement strategy has yielded predictable results: repeated humiliation, strategic defeats, and growing damage to the zoo community’s public standing.

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