Anyone seen the new IZES website?

Trivial I know, but it'll end the curiousity in our household:

Paradoxurus, is that you on the cover (pre 'tache) in the Colchester picture?
 
Shorts said:
Trivial I know, but it'll end the curiousity in our household:

Paradoxurus, is that you on the cover (pre 'tache) in the Colchester picture?
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Well spotted! (I was on the other end of the lens)
 
tim b said:
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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Thanks for reply Tim I think my post came across a bit more critical than it should have done,because I have found it to be an excellent read have only just put it down,I do realise that their was no chance of everything been 100% correct,so for it to only have the few errors that I mentioned then you have done a truely SUPERB job with the book,also I have found a few collections that I have not even heard even more surprising for me is two are about 30 minutes from me.So many thanks for finding some more collections for me to visit.
 
I would like to add my congratulations to Tim for the IZES Guide to British Zoos and Aquariums . I have been dipping into the book ever since receiving it and have found lots of collections I would really like to visit .

By my reckoning , of the 154 collections reviewed , there are 65 I have never visited . A lot of the others I have only visited once , quite a few of these visits being 20+ years ago . As I am quite a distance from all but a few regularly visited collections , I will be waiting until the Spring to start serious zoo visiting again .
 
Tim, if you are reading this thank you for the quick turnaround, after sending my payment on Sunday night, what a lovely surprise to see this fat envelope on my doorstep, with my copy of the guide to British zoos, we went to the zoo today, summer AND autumn editions of grapevine as well as a copy of zoos today, such a pity this classy mag, only ever appeared in one edition.
Really, really glad to see a copy of zoos today, i had lost mine, and could i remember where the first lesser flamingo was hatched, but thank you i do now.
 
Thanks for the support and kind words of those that have had the book or books and to some new members too, looks like even I must give the thumbs up to the internet!And to those folks who have ordered a few copies it looks like someone is going to get a reasonable christmas present! On reflection obviously I would change a few things and heaven knows what happened to Five Sisters - it started off in there.Many lessons learned on doing future books I must admit.And up-to -dateness will never beat ZooChat, then again you cant put a thread up on your bookcase.There is room for both I hope.Had my first zoo-owners gripe today[shouldnt say who it was but I wasnt too positive about his place] but if I cant be honest then I dont want to write anyway.Of course he had me on minor changes and it is three years since I made my visit BUT a check with others revealed that the zoo was much unchanged.He moaned about the hard work he had put in ,and I can see that,but as i said to him sweat and tears doesnt turn you into Durrell-poor is poor no matter how much work has gone in. And I will be interested to see how many groans I get from zoos that really didnt want to know about the book when I rang them up [more than one or two including the zoo above]More positively,a more famous zoo was highly delighted with my review and deserved it. Sorry for being so cryptic.
 
I received my copy of the book the yesterday after ordering it based on a link from this forum. I found it a very interesting read and exactly what I was looking for / expected. Very quick turnaround on the order too. It has definitely encouraged me to visit some of the zoos described. Great job.
 
A lovely smart little book Tim, haven't had a chance to prize it out of the boss' hands yet for a good look but I was read our review while I serviced the exhibits this morning!!! Not bad eh :D

Cheers
Lotte***
 
The book is definitely a good read. I perceive it to be of far more interest to zoo enthisiasts than it is useful to a 'general' zoo visitor and as such would recomend it to virtually all zoochatters.It helps to have a degree of knowledge of the british zoo scene and of zoology in general to appreciate the flavour of the tome fully. I also reckon that already being a reader of IZES publications (to recognise zoo enthusiasts' ideals) would help.

The book differs from its forerunners in that it is not a set of physical descriptions of each collection. It is also offers valuable critiques of many collections from the point of view of an unbiased and non-professional visitor though I rather get the impression that a few biases have crept in surreptitiously!

All in all an excellent effort and a perfect Christmas gift for a zoo enthusiast!
 
Just read it after recieving it on Saturday, and what an excellent read, very well done. A few corrections I could make about Marwell's entry, but as this reviews 154 collections I can understand how hard it is to get things 100%. Congrats. :)
 
Just finished my copy and can only echo what everybody else is saying, "a great and often enlightening read for zoo enthusiasts".

Tim, I salute you for visiting all those similar and insipid aquaria so that we don't have to!
 
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