Ken Foose dies longtime unique pets supplier was 61
3 min readFor a lot more than two decades, Ken Foose presented snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, turtles and other beasties to Southern Nevadans and other folks all over the world in search of companion animals that did not bark, chirp or meow.
Foose, who opened Exotic Pets, 2410 N. Decatur Blvd., No. 160, in 1991, died Monday. He was 61. His daughter, Ashley Foose, stated the induce of dying was a coronary heart attack.
David Syzdek, an environmental biologist with the Southern Nevada Water Authority who was mates with Foose for about 25 many years, stated Foose was “very ethical” in providing unique animals and wouldn’t offer an animal to a prospective customer who was not all set to treatment for it.
Foose also was “a outstanding source of understanding, equally with wild and captive animals” and “a wonderful resource for the hobbyist,” Syzdek explained.
“His retail outlet was like traveling to the very best zoo in the country’s reptile household. There was an unbelievable range of animals in the shop, just incredible animals from all more than the environment.
“He was a good close friend and a serious useful resource in the local community. He’ll be skipped,” Syzdek explained.
In accordance to a 2012 profile of Foose on the National Reptile and Amphibian Advisory Council’s webpage, Foose held a master’s degree in zoology from the College of Kansas and served as zookeeper at various zoological parks, as nicely as, in 1984, a non-public zoo called Reptiles of the West, just before opening his keep in Las Vegas.
Foose explained to the Assessment-Journal in 2016 that he initially required to be a cetacean biologist, but he joked that the issues of fitting a whale into a 10-gallon aquarium steered him towards herpetology.
Foose claimed that he usually has been fascinated with snakes but noted that, as he grew more mature, he was getting “more of a turtle and tortoise guy. There’s a little something very pacifying about a tortoise.”
Even following a lifetime of keeping and finding out reptiles and amphibians, he nonetheless understood the attractiveness of novice herpetology. “A 12-12 months-previous child with a frog in a jar is a herpetologist,” he reported. “He’s caring for the animal, he’s feeding the animal, he’s learning the animal. He’s as considerably of a herpetologist as anyone with a college or university diploma.”
In 2019, Foose spoke just before Nevada lawmakers who were looking at a monthly bill to ban private folks from possessing “wild animals,” such as “big cats, bears, wolves and primates.” Foose informed lawmakers a law was not necessary mainly because “there are quite couple of individuals keeping these large animals and they preserve them securely.”
“Horses and livestock destroy more individuals in the planet than any other animals merged,” he reported. “No 1 is banning cattle or horses.”
But, Foose claimed, “exotic animals are delicate targets and elicit concern … ”
In a 2017 tale in The New Yorker about reptile trafficking, Foose was cited as a “virtuous” herper (slang for persons who look for for reptiles) talking out against the unlawful trade of reptiles. The story also identified as him “a minimal celeb between herpers,” which Foose set into point of view.
“If you get your finger and your thumb and you set them about an inch aside, which is the field I’m a rock star in,” he stated.
Survivors include things like Foose’s daughter, Ashley Foose, and son, Isaac Foose.
A GoFundMe webpage has been made to raise cash for Ken Foose’s memorial and funeral bills (gofundme.com/f/ken-foose-memorial-and-funeral-costs).
A non-public memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday. Ashley Foose explained folks wishing to show up at need to phone her at 774-823-2622.
Contact John Przybys at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com. Adhere to @JJPrzybys on Twitter.
