The Pueblo Zoo Through the Years: An Inside Look was published in 2019 and co-written by Jonnene D. McFarland and Martha M. Osborn. These two ladies began helping out at the Pueblo Zoo in 1976 and 1977, before jointly retiring in 2012 after 35 years of service. They founded the Pueblo Zoological Society and took what was a tiny, struggling Colorado establishment and turned it into a decent mid-sized zoo. I visited the zoo in 2014 and they've always had a few rarities (sun bears, Sichuan takins, maned wolves, Speke's gazelles, bushbabies, swift foxes) and in fact here is a list of all the animals currently at the zoo: https://590cdd86-7bc4-412a-9005-1ea...d/e6e8f6_ef53d1bcacc5454a92f66de3cffc3bb2.pdf The book is an excellent addition to my zoo library in terms of the historical photos, with intriguing images of WPA projects such as Monkey Island, Monkey Mountain and the old bear pits, as the zoo does have quite a bit of history to it. There is an entire chapter on the transformation on how the zoo spent more than a decade planning and renovating the Animal House (originally for big cats) and the Monkey Island into Islands of Life with ring-tailed lemurs outdoors and various species endemic to islands inside. It's also astonishing how in the 1980s the zoo had at least one polar bear, grizzly bear, Kodiak bear and sun bear, in grottoes that were subsequently closed down in the late 1980s and they are still sitting there empty today. The two authors have a lot of love for the zoo that they worked at for all those years, even though they initially knew almost nothing about exotic animals and instead had the help of curators, veterinarians and an incredible staff during their tenure. There are short chapters on fundraising events, significant past employees and famous animals, but the main thrust of the book is the era from the mid-1970s to 2012. It's not brilliantly written and a few minor errors are apparent, but what shines through is the passion of the ladies and they deserve applause for taking a zoo by the scruff of its neck and altering it into a facility that consistently gets re-accredited by the AZA every 5 years. Denver and Cheyenne Mountain dwarf Pueblo in the state of Colorado, but nevertheless the smaller zoo is holding its own in terms of AZA accreditation. A major flaw with the book is the presentation, as it is not aesthetically appealing and it is a softcover publication that has the appearance of a cheap university textbook. There are 172 pages and 167 black and white photos, which means that over a night or two it is easy enough to read the whole thing. If one is willing to accept the book for what it is in terms of quality, then the real treasures to be found are some of the older photos. I would recommend the book only to hardcore collectors of zoo memorabilia, or anyone in the Colorado area with an affinity for the Pueblo Zoo. The zoo's very small yet nicely presented Reptile House: The zoo has 4 historic bear grottoes: Islands of Life (ring-tailed lemur exhibit with boat and lighthouse): Islands of Life building: African penguin exhibit (with a lot of breeding success here): Zoo entrance:
My co-author @Tim Brown wrote up a review of the Pueblo Zoo book in the spring edition of Zoo Grapevine & International Zoo News and he was quite complementary. With the publication of the history book of Pueblo Zoo, as well as a 2020 book about Seneca Park Zoo (which I own but haven't read yet), a couple more well-established American zoos now have their long histories committed to paper.
