New zoo director making plans

Clovis' new zoo director believes he'll be bringing new things to the city's Hillcrest Park Zoo that will put it "shoulder to shoulder" with large metropolitan zoos.

"Keep your eye out," Damian Lechner said. "We're going to have new animals coming, new programs, a new logo, a new website."

Lechner, 45, has been on duty for two weeks but has a lifetime of interaction with wildlife.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, Lechner said he always had a fascination for animals. He always had animals when he was a kid.

One of the things that helped in his animal interactions was his parents insisted the family go camping frequently. Lechner said it was every weekend.

Lechner studied wildlife and fishery resources at West Virginia University.

He did a stint in the United States Coast Guard while his older brother and father spent their military service with the Air Force.

At Clovis' zoo he succeeds Vince Romero, who retired earlier this year.

From elephants to tigers: oh, my

Lechner's first zoo job was in Houston, where he worked with animals that performed in zoo programs.

"Then I went on to the elephant department," Lechner said. "I never thought I'd work with elephants but once I did I was hooked."

Lechner spoke in awe of elephant size, their strength and their gentleness, how an elephant's trunk may knock over trees and yet they can pick up a blade of grass.

From Houston it was on to Santa Barbara, Calif., where Lechner worked with geriatric elephants.

When he took a position with the Los Angeles Zoo, Lechner said he got to do something he'd always wanted to do.

"Ever since I was a kid I was fascinated by Australian animals," he said. "In Los Angeles I got to work with Australian animals and that was a dream come true."

Lechner left the West Coast and took a job with the zoo in Palm Beach, Fla., where he continued to work with Australian animals and tigers. Lechner said big cats are much like house cats in terms of behavior. "Except they can kill you," he said.

Asked for his thoughts on Clovis' tiger, Lechner described "Sooner" as "very content, super chill."

A job at the San Francisco zoo gave Lechner first-hand knowledge of birds, something he wanted to learn.

A few years ago Lechner sold his house, sold most everything he owned and he and his bull terrier Cannon moved to the southeast Asian country of Laos where he was the manager for a wildlife rescue center and the only zoo in the country.

"That was going to be my life," Lechner said. "Then the pandemic hit and I left."

The Laotian government was closing the border and the country didn't have decent health care, according to Lechner. For health care those that could would travel to nearby Thailand. With the border closed that option was gone. Lechner said leaving Laos was a tough decision.

New zookeeper on Clovis:'I see a lot of potential here'

Lechner found the Clovis job on a government website. He said the zoo director's job in Clovis is similar to the job he had in Laos.

"I wanted to make a difference," Lechner said. "I see a lot of potential here."

Clovis Parks and Recreation Department Director Russell Hooper hired Lechner because of his passion for taking care of animals, his passion for zookeeping and his knowledge of animals.

"During the intial interview," Hooper said, "What usually might have taken a half-hour lasted an hour-and-a-half."

Lechner's most dangerous animal encounter?

He said he had been working on rhinoceros conservation and that effort took him to Lewa, Kenya, in east Africa for three weeks. While there he went on a "bush walk," just walking out in the open.

"You get to see wildlife up close as opposed to being in a vehicle," Lechner said.

Lechner said the group encountered a huge herd of elephants and then there was this giant bull elephant and the bush walkers were between him and his herd.

"He charged us," Lechner said. "The guide told us to be still, stand our ground. The bull did some mock charges, he came within 10 feet of us, then he left us alone. That was my scariest moment ever with wildlife."

Lechner said he's happy to be part of the Clovis community.

"Every time I put an address in my GPS I'm just five minutes away," Lechner said. "Everybody is so friendly here. I haven't seen that in many places. It feels like home already."