Central Kan. zoo's new director looks to future

The taxidermy is housed in the wildlife museum, built in 2003 to display animals from around the world in seven large dioramas featuring such diverse settings as rain forests, North American vistas and the plains of Africa.

Jenkins said he will rely heavily on advice from Kathy Tolbert, who has been affiliated with Rolling Hills since before the zoo opened to the public in 1999.

Tolbert worked as assistant director starting in 1994, when Walker was creating Rolling Hills as a private, nonprofit foundation. She became executive director in 2005 but decided, after Walker's death in April, to resume duties as assistant director so the organization could find a director prepared to take on the changes to come.

"In a certain sense with Charlie's passing, he bequeathed Rolling Hills to the people of Salina, and now it's time for everyone to get involved in its future," Jenkins said.