{"671627":{"#nid":"671627","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Former Zoo Atlanta director Terry Maple dead at 77","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\/people\/terry-l-maple\u0022\u003ETerry Maple\u003C\/a\u003E, emeritus professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Psychology\u003C\/a\u003E who is credited with transforming Zoo Atlanta from one of the worst in America to one of the best in the world, has died at 77.\u0026nbsp;Atlantans of a certain age will recall that Zoo Atlanta was in a dismal state in the 1970s and 1980s before Maple took over as director in 1984.\u0026nbsp;But Maple believed Zoo Atlanta had promise, and his first mission was to free Willie B, a western lowland gorilla, from the concrete bunker he lived in with a tire swing and television to keep him company.\u0026nbsp;Maple, who had grown up in San Diego and frequented its world-famous zoo, envisioned a large outdoor habitat where Willie B. and other gorillas could live naturally rather than in confinement.\u0026nbsp;(This story was also covered in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/obituaries\/terry-maple-turned-zoo-from-worst-to-one-of-best-in-us\/WGF6IZDKQJHTHELAR242IDHUOE\/?_gl=1*xzo66p*_ga*MjE0NzIzODUyOC4xNzAyOTA5NDM2*_ga_6VR7Y4BTY5*MTcwMjkxMjkwMy4yLjEuMTcwMjkxMjkyOS4wLjAuMA..\u0022\u003EThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution.\u003C\/a\u003E)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\/people\/terry-l-maple\u0022\u003ETerry Maple\u003C\/a\u003E, emeritus professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/psychology.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESchool of Psychology\u003C\/a\u003E who is credited with transforming Zoo Atlanta from one of the worst in America to one of the best in the world, has died at 77.\u0026nbsp;Atlantans of a certain age will recall that Zoo Atlanta was in a dismal state in the 1970s and 1980s before Maple took over as director in 1984.\u0026nbsp;But Maple believed Zoo Atlanta had promise, and his first mission was to free Willie B, a western lowland gorilla, from the concrete bunker he lived in with a tire swing and television to keep him company.\u0026nbsp;Maple, who had grown up in San Diego and frequented its world-famous zoo, envisioned a large outdoor habitat where Willie B. and other gorillas could live naturally rather than in confinement. (This story was also covered in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/obituaries\/terry-maple-turned-zoo-from-worst-to-one-of-best-in-us\/WGF6IZDKQJHTHELAR242IDHUOE\/?_gl=1*xzo66p*_ga*MjE0NzIzODUyOC4xNzAyOTA5NDM2*_ga_6VR7Y4BTY5*MTcwMjkxMjkwMy4yLjEuMTcwMjkxMjkyOS4wLjAuMA..\u0022\u003EThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution.\u003C\/a\u003E)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"34434","created_gmt":"2023-12-18 14:46:01","changed_gmt":"2023-12-18 15:24:56","author":"Renay San Miguel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"RoughDraft Atlanta","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"https:\/\/roughdraftatlanta.com\/2023\/12\/13\/former-zoo-atlanta-director-terry-maple-dead-at-77\/","dateline":{"date":"2023-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-12-13T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"443951","name":"School of Psychology"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"167710","name":"School of Psychology"},{"id":"190749","name":"Terry Maple"},{"id":"6765","name":"zoo atlanta"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}