Thomas French (2)

"Zoos argue that they are fighting for the conservation of the Earth, that they educate the public and provide refuge and support for vanishing species. And they are right. Animal-rights groups argue that zoos traffic in living creatures, exploiting them for financial gain and amusement. And they are right. Caught inside this contradiction are the animals themselves, and the humans charged with their well-being.”

This is an incredibly thought provoking book about the animals in zoos, where they come from, who cares for them and the relationships that exist between the animals, each other, and their keepers. It makes me want to visit a zoo and eradicate zoos all at the same time.

The book lost a little steam for me towards the end as the focus shifted from the animals at Lowry Park Zoo to the investigation and removal of the park's CEO but otherwise it was a really interesting look at all sides of the zoo picture. I'm still very conflicted about all of it.… (more)

The author, formerly a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, describes this book, which grew out of his reporting and which he was inspired to write after reading Life of Pi, as a chronicle of daily life inside a zoo. The book opens with the story of 11 South African elephants ("the Swazi 11") being transported from South Africa to US zoos after years of legal battles to prevent the move. Had they not gone to zoos, the elephants would have been killed, since their habitats on game preserves were overcrowded and culling was desperately needed. However, animal activists took the position that "it was better to die free than to live in captivity."

Four of the Swazi 11 were destined for the Tampa Zoo, and the CEO of that zoo, Lex Salisbury, was instrumental in the battle to bring the elephants to the US. He also features prominently in the book, and not always in a good way. The details of transporting the elephants thousands of miles, including the involvement of the FBI in Tampa to make sure animal activists did not disrupt the transport of the elephants from the airport to the zoo itself, to all the details that went into acclimating the elephants to their new home, were fascinating. And that was just the beginning of this engrossing book.

We meet all sorts of interesting, both rare and common, animals, and learn of their likes and dislikes, their eccentricities and their personalities. Some of the more memorable are the elephants, Herman the chimp, and Enshala the tiger. There's also a section on the ways in which zoos, including the Tampa Zoo, participate in breeding programs and the zoo's attempts to breed the elephants and Enshalla, as well as a section about programs to return injured animals the zoo has rehabilitated to the wild, manatees in the case of the Tampa Zoo.

We also come to know many of the dedicated zookeepers and animal tenders, who were usually poorly compensated and worked long hours, often in understaffed conditions. But always loving the animals and loving what they do. Just so you know, zookeepers are divided into "bunnyhuggers" and "nonbunnyhuggers." Bunnyhuggers talk baby talk to their animals, celebrate their birthdays, give them special names. Nonbunnyhuggers "revel in the otherness" of their animals.

And prevailing over it all is Lex Salisbury. As far as I can tell one of the major functions of the CEO of a zoo is to be a fundraiser for the zoo, and Lex apparently excelled at this. But it soon became apparent that he was a tyrannical manager, frequently at odds with his zookeepers about the best and safest methods to care for the animals. This led to a lot of firings and resignations, with the resultant staff shortages, and at times safety was compromised. There was even a recent incident where the tiger, Enshalla, escaped and had to be shot. (All zoos have codes for various incidents, so this was a "Code One. Tiger").

Lex was extremely well-compensated as CEO of the Tampa Zoo, being paid more than even the mayor of Tampa. But he overstepped bounds when as an entrepreneur, he began to develop a tourist attraction, "Safari Wild" near Tampa which would be in direct competition with the nonprofit zoo. Beyond this blatant conflict of interest, it was later discovered that his leadership of both entities led to some very cozy situations in terms of exchanges of animals and uses of public funds. It was rather satisfying to read of his downfall after reading about the self-dealing and corruption. And as an aside, there's the various humorous story of the monkeys he thought didn't know how to swim and could be contained on an island at Safari Wild. The monkeys escaped the island, and months later many were still on the loose, taunting those attempting to capture them.

The book was even more interesting to me, since all of this took place where I now live, although the events depicted took place c.2003-2010, well before I arrived. When our kids were young we were almost weekly visitors to the zoo, both in New Orleans and in Seattle, and though my zoo-going days are behind me, I was fascinated with this inside look at zoo operations. As you can tell, I really liked this book, and heartily recommend it.

3 1/2 stars… (more)

In this book, a few animals get most of the focus- tigers and elephants. There's also a lot about a certain chimpanzee who had lived in the zoo a very long time, seen many changes- but started his life raised in a private home, so he had some confusion including a fixation on human females instead of his own species. The shuffling of hierarchy among the half dozen chimps at the zoo as some aged and younger ones came in, was pretty fascinating. The tiger- beautiful and always fierce- even to the older, larger male tigers they bought in hoping to be her mate- met a tragic end after getting out of her enclosure one day. Main thread going through the book was about the elephants- brought over from Swaziland to spare them from being killed in a cull... The zoo's acquisition of these elephants caused a huge outcry from animal welfare groups. There was also a lot of conflict among the zoo staff- some wanted direct contact methods used with the animals, others pushed for new methods that kept the keepers and staff safer from the elephants. This book, like the other, also had a lot about how inner operations and politics, but it felt more focused. Quite a lot about the zoo director's decisions and actions, how it impacted the workers, the animals, even how his wife felt about things.

Some other animals featured in the book are the manatees which the zoo rehabilitates and releases into the wild, patas monkeys that escape off their island and run around the outskirts of the city for weeks, and endangered frogs being bred in captivity. It's all based on six years of research- four of which the reporter spent in visiting the zoo and going behind-the-scenes. The appendix has detailed notes about sources for all the described scenes and conversations, very thorough. Most of the time I appreciated the author's attempts to imagine what the animals were thinking, feeling or perceiving in certain moments, but I found his constant comparison of human behavior to chimpanzees (especially in terms of males seeking high status) annoying- it just started to get old. Although he made a good point to reiterate what zoo staff told him about how they help endangered species and work for the good of the animals, a lot of what's in this book made me feel dubious about zoos for the first time- usually I enjoy visiting them. Now I'm not so sure.

from the Dogear Diary… (more)