Get Ebooks Zoo Story: Life In The Garden Of Captives
"This story, told by a master teller of such things, does more than take you inside the cages, fences, and walls of a zoo. It takes you inside the human heart, and an elephant's, and a primate's, and on and on. Tom French did in this book what he always does. He took real life and wrote it down for us, with eloquence and feeling and aching detail."-Rick Bragg, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author"An insightful and detailed look at the complex life of a zoo and its denizens, both animal and human."-Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi and Beatrice and VirgilWelcome to the savage and surprising world of Zoo Story, an unprecedented account of the secret life of a zoo and its inhabitants. Based on six years of research, the book follows a handful of unforgettable characters at Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo: an alpha chimp with a weakness for blondes, a ferocious tiger who revels in Obsession perfume, and a brilliant but tyrannical CEO known as El Diablo Blanco. The sweeping narrative takes the reader from the African savannah to the forests of Panama and deep into the inner workings of a place some describe as a sanctuary and others condemn as a prison. Zoo Story shows us how these remarkable individuals live, how some die, and what their experiences reveal about the human desire to both exalt and control nature.
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Hachette Books (May 17, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1401310532
ISBN-13: 978-1401310530
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #344,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #79 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Endangered Species #150 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Animal Rights #338 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Animals > Wildlife
I've always felt conflicted about zoos. On the one hand, I enjoy seeing the animals up close and personal. On the other hand, I always feel guilty. No matter how big or "friendly" their habitat, I still feel a bit melancholy when I see magnificent wild animals living their lives in such an unnatural way. Then I try to make myself feel better by telling myself that they might be better off in a zoo--safe from poachers and other dangers found in the wild. In short, like many others, I have a love/hate relationship with zoos. So when I saw journalist Thomas French's book, Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives, that purported to give an inside look at Tampas' Lowry Park Zoo, I snapped it up immediately.In addition to my curiosity about the inner workings of a zoo, I was also drawn to this book because we visited Lowry Park Zoo several times, and I always enjoy reading about places I've been to in real life. I was able to picture many of the places he described--and remember watching the baby elephant whose conception and birth is described in the book.This book tells many stories--including the rise and fall of the zoo's controversial CEO Lex Salisbury to the reign and tragic ends of the zoo's "king" and "queen" (Herman the Orangutan and Enshalla the Tiger). The book opens with the transport of a group of elephants from Swaziland, Africa to Florida. Using the acquisition and journey of the elephants to highlight some of the issues and controversies surrounding zoos, French highlights the reasons why so many of us are conflicted about zoos.
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