Good move. I definitely felt as a bit overwhelmed with the rate the posts were arriving.
this one depicts the various guidebooks released during the years leading up to WWII, and during the war itself, starting with the first guidebook released after the Nazi rise to power. This represents a fairly good dividing point for more than one reason, as these guidebooks represent a general change in format and style from those which had come beforehand.
and covering several days worth of guidebooks too!
Day 46: Highland Wildlife Park (c.1990) - European Wisent; An Explorer's Guide
Page count: 34 pages (including inner front and rear covers)
Photographs: c.50
Illustrations/diagrams: c,30
Layout: General introduction, followed by discussion of species held in the drive-through reserve and a range of geological, topographical and botanical features found within, a general overview of the species found in the various sections of the walk-around reserve, and supplementary sections relating to the RZSS and the importance of zoos,
Map: Three maps; double-page map of entire collection, single-page map of walk-around reserve, map, road-map of collection on rear cover.
A pretty significant guidebook today; to wit, the very first guidebook in my collection, purchased by my parents at the time of publication, during my very first visit to a zoo! As such, this particular item holds a lot of sentimental value to me; however, as I intend to demonstrate, it is also an extremely good guidebook in its own right, with a great deal of interesting and informative content. The Highland Wildlife Park which I visited as a small child was a very different collection to the one which exists now, as I have mentioned in a prior post; the species collection was restricted to current and historical native species of Scotland, and many of the exhibits and enclosures were unrecognisable from their current form, where they existed at all; however, it was still a rather good collection - with a few major shortcomings, such as a Brown Bear exhibit which was verging on unacceptable even by the standards of the time - and one which I fondly remembered for over two decades before my return.
The guidebook opens with a general introduction to the collection, as is the case for many of the zoo guides I have covered in this thread thus far; however, it should be noted that this introduction displays one key feature which marks it as rather unusual where English-language zoo guidebooks are concerned, to the point that offhand I cannot recall any other guidebook published by a UK zoological collection having done something of this sort - to wit, the introduction is presented not only in English, but also in French, German and Italian. Several of the guidebooks within my collection published in Germany, Czechia or elsewhere on the continent provide multi-lingual content, whether this is throughout the main body of the text or limited to the introduction, but barring the Welsh-language content in certain guidebooks published there, the same cannot be said for any other UK items in my collection. Beyond here, a section containing a variety of general remarks about the upkeep and management of HWP - discussing matters such as the management structure, the feed schedule and the various key members of zoo staff - is presented prior to the main body of the text.
It is worth noting here that due to the large A4 format of the guidebook, this is another occasion where I have found it difficult to satisfactorily scan images, and have therefore also taken digital photographs of those double-page spreads which needed to be presented in their entirety. The first major section of the guidebook comprises several pages discussing the main drive-through reserve at HWP, starting with a double-page spread showing the various species present within the reserve at the time of publication - Soay Sheep, Roe Beer, Red Deer, Highland Cattle, Przewalski Horse and European Wisent - in scale both to one another and a diagram of a human, followed by the above very attractive illustration of the drive-through reserve, and by extension the collection as a whole.
One of the particularly interesting aspects of this map, and something which is replicated throughout this section of the guidebook as I shall relate anon, is the fact that rather than focusing solely on the animals displayed within, it also makes note of various land features within the reserve; some of the most important features are discussed in greater detail elsewhere within this section within three double-page photographs of the reserve, labelled with photographic annotations, with the overall titles of "Glaciation", "Land Use" and "Focus on Trees" as noted on this map. This represents one of the most interesting and unique aspects of this guidebook as a whole; the fact that the main body of the text in this section does not merely restrict itself to discussion of the species held within the collection at the time of publication, and their role in the primeval ecosystems of the Scottish Highlands, but also makes detailed note of the wider geological and botanical context in which these ecosystems existed, along with the effect which humans have had on the landscape.
For instance, the above double-page spread discussing the lasting impact which the retreating glaciers left on the Scottish Highlands at the close of the most recent ice age 12,000 years before the present day uses a black-and-white photograph of the main reserve in order to directly point out the various glacial features which can still be seen within Highland Wildlife Park and its environs, such as the bare and denuded rock of the surrounding Cairngorms, and the drumlins and morraines which are scattered throughout the drive-through reserve; having grown up visiting the Scottish Highlands and the Lake District, I have long been interested in the geological and geographical impact of the most recent glacial period on Great Britain, quite apart from my interest in the wildlife which inhabited much of northwestern Europe in the millennia that followed the retreat of the glaciers. As such, these double-page images provide a very interesting and valuable insight into the geographic context of the zoological collection under discussion, of the sort that one rarely finds within a zoo guidebook.
Along with these discussions, there is of course substantial material dealing with the various species located within the drive-through reserve, often reaching very high levels of detail; for instance, the double-page spread relating to the Red Deer at Highland Wildlife Park - which, incidentally, have long-since comprised a captive herd occasionally supplemented by wild individuals from the surrounding countryside jumping over fences and barriers in order to join their kin - features a large amount of information on the ecological niche of the species, their behaviour and their annual life cycle, the last of these points illustrated by an excellent annotated diagram showing key points in the year both biologically and behaviourally. Similarly, several of the species displayed within the drive-through reserve are discussed in relation to their status as Ice Age or Neolithic inhabitants of Scotland - or, in the case of the Highland Cattle and Przewalski Horse, their role as a "stand-in" for the extinct aurochs and tarpan respectively. As is the case for the entirety of this guidebook, this section is lushly-illustrated by both photographs and diagrams, helping to enhance the overall impact of the text rather well.
The discussion of the species displayed within the drive-through reserve is followed by several sections relating to the central walk-around portion of Highland Wildlife Park; it is this portion of the collection which has perhaps changed the most in terms of the captive husbandry and exhibit standards visible within since the time of publication, incidentally. As the above map shows, this area covers a smaller area than the modern-day walk-around reserve, with several areas which now contain large exhibits remaining untouched, and others containing several exhibits where now only one or two are present. As before, this map is very attractive and conveys a very good impression of the general "feel" and atmosphere of this portion of the collection.
As was the case for the species accounts previously discussed within this guidebook, those sections relating to the various species displayed within the walk-around reserve are rather excellent both in terms of the detailed information presented, how well-illustrated they are, and the way in which the guidebook consistently ties the overall discussion into the larger context of the various natural biomes found within the Scottish Highlands, and Scotland in general. Once again, this latter point includes discussion at several points about those species which have been lost from the British Isles over the millennia, such as Brown Bear, Eurasian Lynx and European Wolf, and the key ecological role which they have left vacant in the modern-day Scottish Highlands. One section which I found particularly interesting, not only for the content presented within but also due to how seldom such information is presented within a zoo guidebook - or indeed educational signposting within a zoo - was a collection of annotated diagrams discussing the behaviour and body language of wolves; for instance how they display submission, aggression, greet one another and so forth.
The various species accounts within this latter half of the guidebook are generally speaking, divided into particular biomes except where a greater level of detail is desired - for instance, in the aforementioned discussion of the European Wolf - or where a wider educational point (such as comparing the ecological roles of reindeer and red deer as prey species, the Eurasian Lynx as a predator species, and the Brown Bear as a generalist) is possible. As such, there are distinct sections for the discussion of those species which occur in wetland habitats, the tundra, moorlands, native broadleaf woodland, and the ancient Caledonian forests, with each of these sections going into detail about the behaviour, ecological niche, and historical status within Scotland of the species in question; the below image showing the aforementioned discussion of those species native to the Caledonian forests gives a fairly good impression of the general format and content found within these species discussions.
Interspersed throughout the discussion of the walk-around reserve at Highland Wildlife Park, there are also several sections discussing the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and its work at both Edinburgh Zoo and HWP, and most interestingly a comprehensive discussion on the important role which zoological collections play in the modern world. This latter segment, despite being over 30 years old, has not aged all that much at all; put quite simply it represents precisely the sort of succinct but detailed argument in favour of zoos, wildlife parks and other such collections which should be made more often in the present day, both in zoo guidebooks, at the collections in question and in the wider media.
In conclusion - although the strong sentimental value this guidebook holds both as a souvenir of my first ever visit to a zoological collection and the first such item to enter my personal collection cannot be denied, I feel I have demonstrated rather comprehensively why it is also an extremely good zoo guidebook in its own right; the detail and breadth of the content presented is exceptional, especially for a guidebook published in more modern times. containing not only information on the zoological collection in question but also the context in which it is located, the guidebook is illustrated attractively throughout by a wide selection of photographs and diagrams, and the general format and design of the guidebook makes it feel very accessible and easy-to-read. As such, I think it is safe to say that this is one of the best guidebooks published by a UK collection within my lifetime.
I think aquariums of this ilk have fallen victim to social changes. 50 years ago people would go to a seaside resort for two or more weeks, and stay there, as their transport options were limited. On non-beach days they would have made the rounds of the aquarium, the fair, the museum, none of which would have been substantial given the market available. These days people can hop in a car, and be at a major attraction maybe 100km away within an hour. Additionally this type of aquarium would find it hard to compete against the mega-aquariums of today, such as the Sealife chain.Day 45: Brixham Marine Aquarium (1967) - Dogfish
Page count: 18 pages (including inner front and back cover)
Photographs: N/A
Illustrations/diagrams: 3 full-page diagrams
Layout: General introduction to collection, followed by discussion of marine life, the local fishing industry, and various invertebrate and fish species which are commonly found at the aquarium
Map: N/A
An interesting little oddity this time; over the decades, there have been many tiny aquariums dotted around the UK coastline, located in fishing towns and more-or-less comprising an ever-changing selection of marine animals brought in by local fishing boats, displayed in a handful of small rooms. These are most certainly something of a dying breed - I have never managed to visit a collection of this sort myself, with a planned visit to the aquarium at Lyme Regis last October having been cancelled at the last minute when I took ill fossil-hunting on the beach that morning, and few others remaining to the best of my knowledge. This particular guidebook represents a publication from one of the longest-lived of these collections, the Brixham Marine Aquarium in Devon, which was open for just over 50 years before ultimately closing in 2007.
This guidebook can be divided into roughly three segments; the first of these, as can be seen above, comprises a general introduction to the collection and marine life in general. Beyond here, a number of pages discuss the fishing industry across the UK and the relevance it has to the Brixham area in particular. This section concludes with three full-page diagrams - the only illustrations within the guidebook overall - depicting the general anatomy of a fish, and the difference between beam trawling and otter trawling. These sections are quite interesting, if somewhat specialist and only tangentially related to the zoological collection in question; however, they are important for understanding the socio-economic situation within which the aquarium at Brixham was located, and therefore represent a useful historical resource in that regard.
The third, and longest, segment of the guidebook comprises a species-by-species description of the various anemones, crustaceans, echinoderms, molluscs and fish which were most commonly displayed at the collection; as noted above, the precise species displayed at Brixham Marine Aquarium was subject to frequent change depending on which taxa were available from the local fishing ships, how long any given arrivals survived in captivity and other such factors. As such, this list can by no means be taken as an accurate inventory of the aquarium at the time of publication - or, most likely, any other time during the half-century it existed. It is, however, remarkably detailed and informative in terms of the content presented,; a rather large amount of high-quality information about the life cycle, biology and habits of the various species under discussion is conveyed here, considering the brevity of the guidebook as a whole and the relative obscurity of the collection to which it pertains.
Overall, this guidebook is surprisingly good considering the fact that (for all intents and purposes) it will have been a cheap and mass-produced item aimed at the passing trade which doubtless constituted the vast majority, if not all, of the visitors to the collection in question and therefore had no particular need to be as in-depth or high-quality as it is. Moreover, it represents an interesting and valuable historical record of a zoological collection which - a mere 15 years after it closed - now seems all-but-forgotten; very little information is available online about Brixham Marine Aquarium whatsoever, and even the fact that it has long-since closed down seems to have slipped past notice, with the few references to the collection which do exist online seeming to indicate it still exists. It is even still labelled on Google Maps!
As such, although short of reproducing the guidebook verbatim there is little more that can be said here, I think this is a bit of a hidden gem!
however, it does seem like a lot of the guidebooks you've shown excel in giving accurate, useful and interesting information. Examples like technical details of husbandry and exhibit infrastructure, or putting the collection in an ecological context come to mind. Some of the ones you've shown put more focus on photos and less on information, making them perhaps more useful as advertising and PR rather than as literature. Nothing wrong with that, but I do see why the increasing rarity of new, book-style guidebooks that go into great detail on the collection is regrettable.
Day 47: Zoopark Chomutov (2000) - Marbled Polecat (German-language)
Page count: c.62 pages
Photographs: c. 90
Illustrations/diagrams: c.70 illustrations
Layout: Introduction, followed by general summary of species held in collection, and discussion of subjects such as local conservation work, extinction and the history of Zoopark Chomutov.
Map: Three maps; fold-out map of collection within inner rear cover, map of drive-through reserve within inner rear cover; map on rear cover showing geographic location of Chomutov and surrounding areas of northwest Czechia and southeast Germany.
A rather nice guidebook this time, with an extremely attractive front cover; it will perhaps not surprise anyone to hear that I specifically sought this particular guidebook out *because* of the cover image, in point of fact! When compared to collections such as Prague, Plzen or even Zlin, Zoopark Chomutov is not one of the most often-discussed Czech zoos, but given its primary focus on the native wildlife of central and eastern Europe and adjacent regions of western Asia - and my fondness for collections displaying native Eurasian taxa - it was a high priority when planning my first trip to Czechia in 2017. This guidebook, needless to say, depicts a somewhat different collection to the one I encountered - and in some regards, a rather more speciose collection - but as I intend to demonstrate it nonetheless does a pretty good job of demonstrating why Chomutov is something of a hidden and forgotten gem. The guidebooks published by the collection tend to come in Czech, German and English editions; this particular edition is German-language, which means that although I am not able to read it anywhere as fluently as I would like, I *am* able to get the general gist of the text to a greater extent than would be the case were the guidebook in Czech.
The guidebook opens with a brief welcome to the zoo, written by the then-current director of Zoopark Chomutov, after which a pair of rather excellent short segments forming the main body of the introduction follow; the first of these comprises an essay on the subject of zoological collections and their ongoing importance, citing their role in education and conservation, species such as Pere David's Deer and European Wisent which owe their continued existence to captive breeding programmes, and the importance of continuing to develop and improve husbandry and enrichment standards. As I noted in my recent discussion relating to a Highland Wildlife Park guidebook which contained a similar segment, I feel this is precisely the sort of content which should be published by more zoological collections. The second portion of the introduction discusses the natural fauna and flora found throughout the woodlands, fields and ponds within the collection, noting for instance the fact that the grove of sweet chestnut trees close to the Brown Bear exhibit within the zoo represents a nationally-significant site, being one of the few areas of Czechia where the species occurred at the time of publication, and that Golden Oriole and Wryneck were breeding species within the grounds of the zoo.
Beyond here, the guidebook moves onto a lengthy and rather excellent species-by-species walkthrough of the various mammals, birds and reptiles held within the collection at the time of publication, listed in rough taxonomic order rather than in terms of location within the zoo. A sizeable amount of detailed information is given for the vast majority of the species discussed within, covering such subjects as their historical and current-day presence within Czechia and Europe as a whole, their behaviour, diet and other such factors, the history of their presence at Zoopark Chomutov and details relating to their enclosures within the collection, and where appropriate any relevant conservation/breeding programmes which Chomutov participate in. As the images above and below demonstrate rather well, these passages are illustrated throughout by a large number of high-quality colour photographs showing many of the species discussed within; this certainly enhances the overall quality of this segment, as does the fact that every species mentioned within the text is accompanied by a full taxonomic name.
The species accounts are concluded with a series of eight colour plates containing numerous extremely-attractive paintings depicting a wide range of the species present within the collection at the time of publication. These are roughly arranged within taxonomic or ecological categories as follows; snakes, lizards and tortoises; waterbirds such as pelicans, herons and cormorants; ducks and geese; owls and smaller birds of prey; eagles and vultures; mid-sized woodland birds; small passerines; and a variety of mustelid carnivorans. Each plate is accompanied by a numbered key listing the common names of the species illustrated. In my opinion this is the sort of illustrative material which increases the overall charm and appeal of a guidebook immeasurably, and which complements the photographic material present throughout the remainder of the guidebook very well; moreover, as noted, the overall quality of these illustrations is very high, with the Marbled Polecat painting present on the front cover having been selected from the images found within one of the two plates visible below - something which rather demonstrates the level of detail which the paintings found within originally reached before being miniaturised for the purposes of these plates.
The final section of the guidebook comprises a variety of loosely-connected discussions about a variety of interesting subjects relating to Zoopark Chomutov, such as the farm located within the collection intended to display and breed various rare Czech and Central European breeds of livestock, the role which the collection plays within the local area as a site for the rescue and rehabilitation of injured or sick wildlife, and a fairly-lengthy account relating the history of the Zoopark and how it had expanded and developed over the decades after first opening in the 1930s. As one can imagine, given how often I have opined on this subject, I am rather taken with this latter segment - however, it is not the most noteworthy or interesting aspect of these closing passages, as I shall now relate. One of the most unusual and unique features of Zoopark Chomutov when I visited in 2017 was a "graveyard" for extinct species, littered with statues and gravestones for a variety of species which had been exterminated by mankind over the centuries - although several zoological collections contain educational material relating to extinction or the work being undertaken to prevent further extinctions from taking place, I can think of few which take it to these lengths. This "graveyard" appears to have been present for some decades at the time of my visit, as it is used as the focus for a wider discussion within this guidebook both of the extinct species depicted within - extending from more obvious species such as the Thylacine and Great Auk to species less-often depicted in statues and artwork such as Caribbean Monk Seal and Carolina Parakeet - and the work being undertaken at Chomutov to prevent further extinction, whether this is on a national basis through the breeding and reintroduction of species which are threatened in Czechia and adjacent regions of Central Europe, or an international basis through participation in EEP captive breeding programmes.
The guidebook closes with a series of brief promotional items relating to tourist sites within the city of Chomutov itself and - somewhat strangely - a segment promoting Tierpark Chemnitz across the border in southeast Germany; the presence of this latter item is somewhat less unexpected when one considers the fact that the two cities in question are only around 35 miles apart from one another, a fact made rather explicit by the fact that the rear cover of the guidebook comprises a detailed map of the Czech-German border.
This is one of three maps located at the rear of the guidebook, and whilst very interesting and informative on geographic and political grounds is also the least noteworthy in terms of zoological grounds; however, the two maps within the fold-out inner portion of the back cover are much more relevant in this regard. The first of these comprises a map of the drive-through EuroSafari reserve located on one side of Zoopark Chomutov, only visible from semi-regular safari trucks which run several times a day, and which contains the majority of the larger hoofstock species held within the collection - at the time of publication, this included the herd of Saiga which were present until the early 2000s. Unfortunately, due to the fact the safari only operates if a minimum number of participants has been reached, I missed this entire section of the collection in 2017 - something which stung far, far less than if the Saiga had still been held at the time of my visit! The second map - presented here split across two scans and in a slightly-awkward vertical orientation due to the size and format - covers the main body of the collection. Both maps, as can be seen below, are rather attractive in design and appearance, the only real drawbacks being the complete lack of any labels or other explanatory material, and the fairly loose, impressionistic style sometimes making it difficult to fully interpret the contents of the map and the layout of the footpaths through the collection. As such, their primary value as far as I am concerned is their aesthetic appeal and the way they contribute to the overall feel of the guidebook, rather than their educational utility.
In conclusion, this is a very attractive and well-designed guidebook which gives a rather good impression of the appeal and unique nature of the collection to which it pertains, depicting the wide range of interesting and unusual species held within at the time of publication - as is the case now - and the attractive natural setting within which the Zoopark is located. Moreover, the quality and density of information within this guidebook - particularly in terms of the species accounts which comprise the bulk of the text, and their accompanying illustrations - makes it an extremely interesting book in its own right, quite apart from its status as an item intended to promote a zoological collection and serve as a souvenir for those visiting said collection.
the same goes for quite a few other guidebooks in my collection, to be honest!
I mean, the avatar certainly didn't give it away, and nor did my collection of stamps, first-day covers and other commemorative material relating to the species......
