New Zoo Books

While there are perhaps not many books that can come close to the quality of the San Diego Zoo Centenary double volume, and while Anthony Sheridan's latest is definitely worth buying (although as usual his statistics and charts exhibit many flaws)...here are 7 others that have scarcely been mentioned on ZooChat.

Book #1: Elephants and Egotists: In Search of Samorn of the Adelaide Zoo

Elephants and Egotists : Patricia Sumerling : 9781743053997

I already posted a very short review under a different thread and I'd recommend this book.

Book #2: Through the Lion Gate: A History of the Berlin Zoo

https://www.amazon.ca/Through-Lion-...TF8&qid=1478544752&sr=1-3&keywords=berlin+zoo

This book will be published next August and while it is a long wait I'm sure that many zoo enthusiasts will be ready to read about Berlin Zoo...although 300 pages seems as if it would scarcely do the zoo justice! We'll have to wait and see what the book looks like but at least there is now a cover photo of a caged tiger on the link above.

Book #3: The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo

The Zoo : Isobel Charman : 9780241240687

I've already ordered this one and it was only just published a few days ago. I'm looking forward to yet another book on London Zoo.

Book #4: My Life in the Cleveland Zoo: A Memoir

https://www.amazon.ca/My-Life-Cleve...&qid=1478545024&sr=1-1&keywords=cleveland+zoo

At more than 400 pages (with zero photos) it is a rather entertaining read and tells the perspective from a man who was first a tour train driver, then a night watchman, and finally a keeper. The book is well worth purchasing and neatly divided into three sections to represent the three different jobs that the writer held at the Cleveland Zoo over many years.

Book #5: The Animal Game: Searching for Wildness at the American Zoo

https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Game-...8&qid=1478545232&sr=1-31&keywords=zoo+history

This book was just published this week.

Book #6: American Zoo: A Sociological Safari

https://www.amazon.ca/American-Zoo-...8&qid=1478546870&sr=1-11&keywords=zoo+history

This book was reviewed in Zoo Grapevine magazine and I found it an intriguing read as the writer volunteered at two different Philadelphia-area zoos and provides several different perspectives on zoological institutions. From disgruntled employees to happy volunteers, from behind-the-scenes happenings at Elmwood Park Zoo to looking at zoos with a larger lens...a mixed-bag but an interesting collection of ideas for the reader to consider.

Book #7: The Zoo and Screen Media: Images of Exhibition and Encounter

https://www.amazon.ca/Zoo-Screen-Me...8&qid=1478547106&sr=1-20&keywords=zoo+history

The ONLY book on this list that I won't purchase...it is out of my price range for something that is only 290 pages.

 

It's actually not as inaccurate a statement as it might at first appear to be! While each of the two zoos obviously exists as a discrete entity, the management of the two was combined following the fall of the Berlin Wall. That said, although I don't know how things are under the current leadership, it always surprised me that there wasn't more crossover between the two zoos - staff appeared to work at one or the other, and there was little sense of connectivity between the two, despite their shared director.

 

Fair point - I'd forgotten the length of time for which Bernard B was in charge only of the Tierpark.

My understanding is that when he took over this job he was resented, a little, by some in the east who saw him as the zoo's man.

 

Yet another exciting zoo book is being published and this time Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo is the zoological destination of choice. Here is the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.ca/Woodland-Stor...8&qid=1480091870&sr=1-84&keywords=zoo+history

 

Book #3: The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo

The Zoo : Isobel Charman : 9780241240687

Review of this book :
Depressed monkeys, constipated llamas and suicidal kangaroos: the dark age of London Zoo

 

There is further discussion about this book here:-

Zoo History book - The Founding of London Zoo

 

The 2014 book Reptiland: How a Boyhood Dream became a Modern Zoo is an enjoyable, brisk read about a specialized zoological collection. The book is small in size and only 130 pages in length (not 148 as it says on Amazon) although at least 25 of those pages are taken up with black-and-white photos. Clyde Peeling gives a first-hand account of what he deemed a "roadside zoo" and for at least a couple of decades it seems as if Reptiland barely survived. However, Peeling is particularly proud of the 1986 AZA accreditation and the facility has maintained its accreditation ever since. Now more than 50 years old and with an expensive new Komodo Dragon exhibit added in 2013 (along with an expanded entrance) Reptiland appears to have weathered its financial storms and will likely be around for at least another 50 years. I appreciate reading about the more obscure zoos of the world and I'd recommend this book for any zoo enthusiast's library.

Here is the Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.ca/Reptiland-Boy...UTF8&qid=1488060086&sr=8-1&keywords=reptiland

 

There is a new, interesting german Zoobook, about the competition between the two Berlin zoos, the contest between the zoo in the west and the animal park in the east.The Zoological Cold War between Dathe and Klös. I haven't seen it yet, so I have no idea, if its worth to buy:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/3446255044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488103281&sr=8-1&keywords=Der+andere+Zoo

Translatetd to english, the title of the book is:The Zoo of the Others: When the Stasi discovered her heart for spectacle bears & Helmut Schmidt retrofitted with pandas


When the Cold War is at its peak, the controversy in divided Berlin also takes on bizarre forms: West-Berlin's governing mayor Willy Brandt worries the zoo director Heinz-Georg Klös new elephants, so that his rival, the East Berlin animal park director Heinrich Dathe , Can continue to provide the forehead. For whoever has more elephants has won a battle. Whether a spectacle bear donation by the Stasi, headlines like "Westesel against Ostschwein" ( West donkey against East pig)or the strike exchange of the two characterful directors Heinrich Dathe and Heinz-Georg Klös - the two Berlin zoos betray a lot about divided Germany. With great sympathy for animals and humans, Jan Mohnhaupt tells his story for the first time in his book.

 

This sounds a brilliant book. I know its unlikely, but I really hope an English version is published.

 

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo book:

https://www.amazon.com/Omahas-Henry...UTF8&qid=1491516958&sr=1-1&keywords=omaha+zoo

 

Terraria Gigantica: The World under Glass

As a possible companion piece to the Omaha Zoo book, there is a new publication due on October 1st that analyzes the zoo's Lied Jungle and Desert Dome complexes...as well as Arizona's Biosphere 2 and Cornwall's Eden Project. I personally would not purchase the book as it is only 88 pages and extremely expensive, but here is the Amazon link for those that are intrigued:

https://www.amazon.ca/Terraria-Giga...UTF8&qid=1493223981&sr=1-2&keywords=omaha+zoo

 

Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator (by Annette Libeskind Berkovits) apparently contains a lot of anecdotes from the Bronx Zoo, as Berkovits spent 30 years in New York City with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

https://www.amazon.ca/Confessions-A...F8&qid=1497703045&sr=1-1&keywords=zoo+curator

 

Book Review:

After I returned from my 17-day, 44-zoo California trip I was pleased to see that the brand-new Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium history book had arrived in the mail. The book was published by The History Press, a firm that is connected to Arcadia, that has already published at least 15 or more zoo-themed books.

The one on Omaha's Zoo is by far the best out of all the long list of Arcadia/History Press publications simply because there are historical photos (66 black-and-white ones) but also far more text is available. The book is small, paperback, all black-and-white except for the cover, only 156 pages but really only 121 pages and then at the back there are another 35 pages of the zoo's history (broken down chronologically with awards, notes, bibliography and index). Those expecting a more comprehensive publication will be disappointed but for hardcore zoo enthusiasts the book is well worth purchasing. Having said that, I sat down and easily finished it off in a single evening.

This publication offers up a succinct version of Omaha Zoo's history, going from mega-exhibit to mega-exhibit through the years and revealing some pretty cool photos of construction images along the way. There are 7 pages of text and photos on Lied Jungle (1992) which was the largest zoo rainforest ever at that time; 5 pages on Scott Aquarium (1995), still the largest aquarium inside a zoo in North America; 6 pages on Desert Dome (2002), one of the world's largest indoor desert environments; 3 pages on Kingdoms of the Night (2003), still the world's largest Nocturnal House and home to the world's largest indoor swamp.

There are details on Gorilla Valley (2004), Orangutan Forest (2005), Butterfly & Insect Pavilion (2008), Expedition Madagascar (2010) and even the Center for Conservation & Research that opened in 1996 and then a new, $6 million wing was added in 2006. The zoo has 20 staff scientists and puts a lot of money towards research and conservation, which the general pubic might not be aware of.

Since Dennis Pate replaced Lee Simmons (he was director for approximately 40 years) the zoo has made incredible changes to its infrastructure that includes: a revamped main entrance, an entirely new second entrance, more than 1,000 extra parking spots, a revamp in 2012 of the Scott Aquarium that added 9 exhibits and widened corridors, refurbishments of eating places and a new restaurant, the Skyfari ride, a huge new gift shop, new ticketing booths and restrooms, a paved road for employee vehicles surrounding the zoo, and miles of expanded walkways, paths and signs inside the zoo. Dennis Pate, director since 2009, has overseen a tremendous number of changes to better the overall experience of visiting the zoo that might get overlooked and the zoo has spent tens of millions of dollars on items that are not necessarily showcase exhibits.

Of course the book ends with discussions on the 28-acre, $73 million African Grasslands, the $14 million Alaskan Adventure, the 5-acre, $27 million Children's Adventure Trails and even the upcoming Asian Highlands complex that will be built in two phases. I toured the zoo in 2008 and in 2012 and I feel that the facility has changed so much that even though it was a brilliant zoo years ago it is probably twice as good now and well worth another visit in the future.

 

A new book about Basel zoo has been released, but looks by its cover aimed at children perhaps.
Pretty though.

 

Looks like the drawing is based on the actual zoo layout, can anyone confirm this?

 

This may be connected to the children's book published by / about Cologne Zoo a few years ago - a brilliant piece of work (for children under the age of 5): the sort of pictures where you have to hunt for recurring things (a red panda and a particular keeper in the Koln one, I seem to recall). One of my children's favourites, when they were younger. And one of their father's favourites, too, not surprisingly.

 

No way...you can't see the man's knees!