America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums

@Tim Brown and myself have been hard at work on this masterpiece for many years and it is finally seeing the light of day. It was originally my idea to combine our general zoo knowledge into the form of a book and I proposed the notion to Tim in mid-2012. In truth we didn't begin to work on the book in earnest until 2014, and originally we planned to cover ALL of the approximately 750 'zoos' in the USA. As we compiled many pages of notes, it was soon obvious that such a book was too daunting of a task. The decision was eventually made to focus on the 100 'best' facilities in the United States and we have therefore been able to include a lot of information on each zoo. Our mantra was 'quality over quantity' and that applies to the physical book in itself. There will be no softcover available, with only a hardcover option, and the photos are in full colour with no black-and-white images. All of that makes the book much more expensive, but it will be worth every penny to a zoo nerd.

A definitive publication date will be posted in due time, but I can assure those clamoring for the book that it is currently at the printers and thus it is simply a matter of time before it will be ready to be devoured by zoo enthusiasts all over the world.

Some pertinent information:

Title: America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums: The essential guide to America's most important zoological establishments.

Authors: Tim Brown recently visited his 800th different zoo and I (Scott Richardson) recently visited my 520th different zoo while on my summer European trek. Tim has been chairman of IZES (Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society) since its inception in 1995 and he has written extensively for Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News magazine. While this will be his third zoo book, it will be my first...although I've posted hundreds of zoo reviews on ZooChat from my numerous 'Snowleopard Road Trips' and I've also written in 'Zoo Grapevine' on more than half-a-dozen occasions over the years.

Number of pages: 368

Number of photos: 700+ (We didn't do an exact count )

Cover photo: Bateleur Eagle at San Antonio Zoo (courtesy of Fred Hood - aka @Arizona Docent )

ZooChatters who contributed photos: Lots! At least 20 individuals from this site gave approval for photos to be used in our book.

Design Team: Glenn Gunton and Alan Ashby

Editor and 'rare species connoisseur': Mike Grayson

Cost: 24.99 British pounds for IZES (Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society) members and 29.99 British pounds for non-members. There will be postal costs on top of those amounts, broken down into UK, Europe and Rest of the World categories. The book will also be available via Amazon (UK only) in due course. Ordering from Amazon.co.uk is very easy for anyone outside of the UK, although there are naturally postal costs associated with any transactions.

Zoo essays: Each write-up has a brief history of the zoo, a critical overview of the animals and exhibits, and then a list of information such as acreage, annual attendance, year the zoo opened, ownership, accreditation, best exhibits, rare species and conservation projects. Each zoo has a minimum of 2 or 3 full pages of information, although a few of the larger establishments (San Diego would be a prime example) are 5 or 6 pages in length.

What zoos are included?: You'll have to purchase a copy to find out! I will say that Tim and I narrowed it down to exactly 80 zoos and 20 aquariums and the selection process wasn't very difficult. I think that most zoo nerds would easily be able to guess at 90+ of the choices and it would only be the last few that would be worth debating.

 

Damn, I'm gonna have to pick this up. And don't worry, snowleopard, I know you've picked Savanahland Educational Park as your top pick.

 

Is this available now?

 

Don't be ridiculous, it is obviously Doc's Zoo.

 

Also, all potential profits from the sale of the book will be donated to a pair of conservation projects: Amphibian Ark and Saola Working Group.

 

Would it be cost-effective to put together a large order for the US to send to one person, then divide up once they're here? Or would that not make much difference in shipping costs?

 

For reasons that are unclear, the publisher of the book seems to be going out of his way not to sell it in North America. With some actual marketing this book could probably find an audience here.

 

I think the price ($38 for a non-member) would probably put off your Average Joe, the market you speak of is slightly niche to say the least. I mean we'd pay that much for a quality zoo book but, in all honesty, how many none enthusiasts are going to fork out close to $40 plus shipping for information they can find online? It's only people like us who want the full review and info, normal people want to know if there are elephants, koalas or zip-lines. That stuff's easily accessible, but a decent critique is hard to come by.

As much as I want there to be a large audience for this publication I'm just not sure there is. I do admire your optimism but I think a "sale-on-order" policy is probably for the best in this instance unfortunately.

 

That's why I was thinking of an order just for zoochatters, or something.

 

I'm just hoping to snag a copy eventually. One day sooner or later, but preferably the former.

 

Just for your information Amazon UK will not ship to Australia. (Amazon USA will). This is probably because of our tax laws. How do I know? Just tried to order a book from them myself a few minutes ago.

 

Now that is interesting. I wasn't sure whether Amazon UK would ship to Canada until just last week when I placed an order for a children's zoo book. It arrived a week later and service was prompt, although the postal rate was slightly higher than normal.

If a zoo nerd lives in a nation where Amazon UK won't deliver, then the IZES website (the link is below) is the second option and that is just as easy to order books from as I've done it myself on several occasions in the past. Once the book is ready to go then the IZES website will be perfect for members (as they get a discount of 5 British pounds) and Aussies, plus anyone else who cannot order through Amazon.co.uk

http://www.izes.co.uk/

Ordering and receiving the book is going to be a piece of cake once it's ready to go, with the only annoyance the higher postage fees for mailing the book overseas. (I personally order from Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk., Abe Books, Book Depository, etc., and online ordering is fast and efficient these days) While ordering through IZES, once the book is placed for sale on that website, I would encourage zoo nerds to also order a subscription to the Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News magazine as it is a quarterly publication that is approximately 40 glossy, all-colour pages of zoo news, zoo reviews and fantastic articles about captive wildlife.

 

Amazon UK will not ship outside the UK, except for a very few items. I'm in a facebook group where we send gifts to each other from amazon wish lists, and it's rare to find something that will ship internationally through them, other than used things from vendors that list on amazon.com. The group admin figured that out the hard way, after letting in some international members In order to send those people gifts, we have to make separate accounts on their country's amazon. It has to do with taxes and shipping costs.

 

It isn't, just means we americans (and aussies, canadians, etc.) likely won't be able to order it from amazon

 

No, it's to protect their "Australian" store - which has fewer items and higher prices - from being undercut by their larger markets.

Use Book Depository instead - it's an Amazon subsidiary but does ship to Australia.

 

Looking forward to receiving the finished project. In the other thread about the book, @snowleopard mentioned there is a special end section with twenty best specialist collections. I am really curious to see what those are. As for ordering, I think it is easiest for everyone just to order directly from IZES. I don't think we could get a big enough USA order together to substantially save on shipping costs (nor would it be worth the hassle for IZES to sort out).

However, if someone from USA wants to visit England and take an empty suitcase with them to fill with books for the return flight...

 

I make my mom do this when she goes to visit family

 

It's official then: @TinoPup's mother will be the official Zoochat book transporter for us American Zoochatters! Now let's discuss payment, would bartering be on the table...?