Life at the Zoo

by Robinson, Phillip T.

• ISBN13: 9780231132480
• ISBN10: 0231132484
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-09-30
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

Please Do NotAnnoy, torment, pester, plague, molest, worry, badger, harry, persecute, irk, bullyrag, vex, disquiet, grate, beset, bother, tease, nettle, tantalize or ruffle the Animals. -- sign at zooSince 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 Ménagerie 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 Zoois 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 Zootells irresistible stories about zoo animals and zoo people.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Introduction	1	(8)
Intern at the Zoo: An Eclectic Orientation	9	(10)
Too Early for the Autopsy: Fitting in at the Zoo	19	(16)
Growing Pains: Educating the Menagerie Makers	35	(8)
The Keepers: Nurturing the Health of Animals	43	(16)
Zoo Babies: Promoting Motherhood	59	(10)
Exhibit Making: Creating Zoo Ecosystems	69	(42)
Creature Comfort: The Power of Microenvironments	111	(10)
What's This Thing? Searching for the Normal	121	(10)
Holding the Tiger: Zoos Say Yes to Drugs	131	(22)
Finding the Sick in the Zoo: Seeking Out Disease and Discomfort	153	(18)
Feeding the Ark: The Nutritional Wisdom of Animals	171	(16)
Getting Closer to Animals: Judas Goats and Alpaca Coats	187	(10)
So, You Work at the Zoo? Employees, Visitors, and Fence Jumpers	197	(8)
Animal Cases and Chases: And Some Things Better Kept to Myself	205	(20)
Zoo Regulars: Coworkers Without Titles	225	(8)
Ethical Captivity: Animal Well-Being in Zoos	233	(36)
What a Zoo Should Be, And Ought Not Be	269	(10)
Annotated Bibliography of Selected Works on Zoos	279	(6)
Index	285	(8)
Photo Credits and Attributions	293