Author Description

Over 14 million people visit zoos in Britain every year, making the zoo over a #40 million industry. However, the 130 zoos, including wildlife parks, aquaria, butterfly collections and safaris, range from excellent through worthy but dull, to really dreadful. About 80 are true zoos - with mammal and reptile collections - and of those, 31 are recommended in this book as worth a visit. This guide provides the reader with an introduction to the history, functions and moral justifications for running a zoo, the problems, benefits and techniques of keeping the animals, an appraisal of each zoo and a guide to all the animal species currently kept in British collections. John Ironmonger is a professional zoologist with connections to Chester Zoo.