Life at the Zoo: Behind the Scenes with the Animal Doctors

By Phillip T. Robinson

Book Overview

Please Do Not Annoy, torment, pester, plague, molest, worry, badger, harry, persecute, irk, bullyrag, vex, disquiet, grate, beset, bother, tease, nettle, tantalize or ruffle the Animals.--sign at zoo

Since the early days of traveling menageries and staged attractions that included animal acts, balloon ascents, and pyrotechnic displays, zoos have come a long way. The M nagerie du Jardin des Plantes in Paris, founded in 1793, didn't offer its great apes lessons in parenting or perform dental surgery on leopards. Certainly the introduction of veterinary care in the nineteenth century--and its gradual integration into the twentieth--has had much to do with this. Today, we expect more of zoos as animal welfare concerns have escalated along with steady advances in science, medicine, and technology. Life at the Zoo is an eminent zoo veterinarian's personal account of the challenges presented by the evolution of zoos and the expectations of their visitors. Based on fifteen years of work at the world-famous San Diego Zoo, this charming book reveals the hazards and rewards of running a modern zoo.

Zoos exist outside of the "natural" order in which the worlds of humans and myriad exotic animals would rarely, if ever, collide. But this unlikely encounter is precisely why today's zoos remain the sites of much humor, confusion, and, occasionally, danger. This book abounds with insights on wildlife (foulmouthed parrots, gum-chewing chimps, stinky flamingoes), human behavior (the fierce competition for zookeeper jobs, the well-worn shtick of tour guides), and the casualties--both animal and human--of ignorance and carelessness. Phillip Robinson shows how animal exhibits are developed and how illnesses are detected and describes the perils of working around dangerous creatures. From escaping the affections of a leopard that thought he was a lap cat to training a gorilla to hold her newborn baby gently (instead of scrubbing the floor with it) and from operating on an anesthetized elephant ("I had the insecure sensation of working under a large dump truck with a wobbly support jack") to figuring out why a zoo's polar bears were turning green in color, Life at the Zoo tells irresistible stories about zoo animals and zoo people.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0231132492
• ISBN13: 9780231132497
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.1" x 8.4"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Great real-life account of zoo life - past and present

The author is very clear in his introduction to his book by saying that it is not a "how-to" book. It is instead a very insightful and anecdotal account of what it's like to be a veterinarian/zookeeper/curator in a zoo. His stories about his own experiences and historical accounts of advancements in the industry do well to remind us how far we have come and how far we have yet to go in caring for our animal charges. I would...

Great general view of complexity of zoos

This was an easy to read, very well described, first-hand account of the complexity of working in a first class zoo.

Of beasts and bureacracies

This is a delightful book. From the dust jacket to the illustrations and index, it is beautifully produced. The author, standing on the left in the dust jacket photo, provides an important inside look at life in the zoo. Robinson's career as a field biologist and zoo veterinarian at the world famous Zoological Society of San Diego provide him great insights into the minds of beasts and bureaucracies. Much of this book is will...

Witty, Funny and Infomed Look at Zoos

"Life at the Zoo" opened up the zoo world for me and provided a long and candid glimpse into how zoos function. Before reading this book I couldn't imagine how anyone could begin to provide medical care for such a diverse population of animals. I got the feeling that I was looking over the fence, peeking through the cracks and peering over the shoulder of veterinarians, animal keepers and visitors. The author writes authoritatively...