Anyone seen the new IZES website?

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Paradoxurus

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I notice that the Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society has a very much overdue new website:

Independent Zoo Enthusiasts Society

It is certainly a big improvement on the last one!

As well as details of Alan's book on historic zoo postcards, there is the option to purchase the latest IZES publication, The IZES Guide to British Zoos and Aquariums.

I think that any member of this forum who is not a member of the IZES should be asking themselves why!
 
I was not aware of the new IZES website which has been updated, even though I am a member of IZES!

Thanks for informing us.
 
Newzooboy said:
Has anyone received this yet?
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Each of the IZES books is quite excellent. Alan Ashby's We Went To The Zoo Today has about 200 old zoo postcards in it. They're really rather beautiful, as well as fascinating. Tim Brown's Guide To British Zoos and Aquariums is the best such guide since Anthony Smith's 1979 Animals On View. It's comprehensive, accurate, and really well written.

My advice? Buy them both!
 
Indeed....I have done just that, or at least bought one and the other on my xmas list...

But

Specifically has anyone received the autumn copy of Zoo Grapevine yet as featured on the IZES website?
 
Excellent. Thanks Rob....

Had a few postage issues lately and just wanted to ensure this wasn't another one!
 
Website looks fantastic i look forward to seeing it develop over the coming months. I too will be purchasing these 2 titles to add to my book collection!
 
Fantastic Service

Ordered both books Wednesday night, on my mat when I got home tonight -very impressive service.

Not had chance to read either properly yet, but both look very good.
 
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I received Tim Brown's book this morning after placing my order on Thursday evening - as Shorts says and impressive service .

The book looks like it is going to be fascinating for a zoo nerd like me . had a quick look at entries for some of the collections I have visited this year and cannot argue with what is written .
 
Been dipping in all morning, great stuff.

One small fly to pick though, why no Five Sisters Zoo?

It's a small zoo but packs a punch bigger than some of the smaller establishments given detailed write-ups. It's not even mentioned in the back pages round-up section. Hopefully it'll be included in any later updated editions.
 
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Has anyone else noticed a few errors about some of the species kept at some of the collections!I do realise that it is almost impossible to be a hundred percent right for a book like this but the Arapaimas have been gone from Blue Planet for over 12 months,and the plan for Red River Hogs at Blackbrook nearly as long.
 
Frankly, I feel the IZES Guide to British Zoos and Aquariums book is more like a review than a guide with no contact details under each zoo. Wondering if the book is selling to the public at the bookshops if so, they will probably have no idea when reading the book!
 
Gentle Giant said:
Frankly, I feel the IZES Guide to British Zoos and Aquariums book is more like a review than a guide with no contact details under each zoo. Wondering if the book is selling to the public at the bookshops if so, they will probably have no idea when reading the book!
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No, it doesn't have contact details. But does a reader really need them in this day and age? It's not difficult to get all the 'official' information on the internet, in a way which wasn't the case even five years ago. I think it would have been a waste of space to include postal addresses, phone numbers and web-site addresses.
 
As a reference book I think it would have been useful to include these details, perhaps in a tabulated format at the beginning of each review much like, if I remember correctly, Ironmonger's 1992 work. Contact details, access, acreage, numbers of species etc are all things that might need to be sought quickly without having to read through text or access a second source such as the internet.

Not everyone has access to the internet but that aside, stats in a tabulated and hard format I think are more user friendly than having to trawl the net for such information. Perhaps we are verging on the book/internet debate which I wouldn't want to hijack this thread with.
 
Perhaps as the author of the IZES Guide To British Zoos And Aquariums I should make some sort of official statement.With regard to Zoo Giraffes comment on things being bang up to date,this becomes an almost impossible task as things change by the minute almost.The fact remains that there had been no overall book on British zoos for 16 years and our society should do these things.The idea was to provide an overview of the current time- after all no one looks back at Schomberg and says " well actually Riber Castle didnt have Wolverines in October 1969",its the overall perspective that counts.This book differs from ANY other in that it is not written for the general public, rather people who know a Taipan from a Tayra and can find a particular collection without too much trouble.If I say it myself it is the first one written from a truly critical perspective[ although of course pro-zoo],this is because it is self published,to add details on car parking and bus routes would have only made it bigger and more costly,It is unlikely to appear in general bookshops anyway.Besides which it is the first book on the subject to appear in the satnav era and thats why we included postcodes.A final bit of info for IZES members is that the latest Zoo Grapevine will be mailed tomorrow - a little late but as you might gather,Ive been busy!
 
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