Day 88: Chester Zoo (2005) - Amboina Box Turtle
Page count: 120 pages
Photographs: c.225
Illustrations/diagrams: N/A
Layout: Introduction and discussion of conservation work, followed by walkthrough account of collection and species within, concluding with various segments relating to the zoo, its work and visitor amenities.
Map: Fold-out map within interior back page
Today, the guidebook which has been selected for discussion is one of the final editions published by Chester Zoo before they ceased to produce material of this sort; as I intend to demonstrate, this is a great pity considering the high quality and depth of information present within this volume. For a surprisingly long time, considering the high level of appreciation I have for Chester Zoo, very few guidebooks from the zoo were contained within my personal collection. However, in the past year or so this has been remedied somewhat; I picked up this particular edition around nine months ago on AbeBooks, with several others having been obtained around the same timespan either through said website, eBay, or in-person trade with other collectors.
The first thing which needs to be noted when discussing this guidebook is the high production quality which is visible throughout; this is one of the very few UK guide books published in recent decades which (in a similar vein to those produced by Walsrode and the two Berlin collections) truly are *books* in their scope, content and design, with glossy, tightly-bound pages, a comprehensive contents page and references section, and hundreds of high-quality colour photographs scattered throughout the main body of the text. The guidebook opens with a general introduction to the collection written by the director of the time, Gordon McGregor Reid, followed by a section - visible above - discussing the latest developments and building projects taking place at the zoo. I always rather like it when guidebooks contain material of this sort, as it ties them into a very specific point in time within the history of a collection, rather than being more generalised and "timeless". Beyond this point, several double-page spreads cover a variety of important and noteworthy points of interest to the zoo visitor; information relating to visitor facilities, safety information and rules of admission; promotion of zoo memberships and animal adoptions; and general advice for those visiting the collection during the winter or in adverse weather.
These passages are followed by a lengthy segment intended to form a more in-depth introduction to the collection prior to the main body of the guidebook, comprising introductory passages written by the chief curators for the animal and horticultural sections, a series of short essays highlighting six "Must See Exhibits" and a comprehensive table of all endangered animal species held by the collection at the time of publication. As the subject of conservation work is one which is returned to at a later point within the guidebook, I shall discuss the lattermost of these anon.
Beyond here, the main body of the guidebook comprises a roughly-alphabetical walkthrough of the various species displayed within the collection at the time of publication, with a paragraph or two devoted to the majority; several of the more significant taxa or animal groups are described within larger double-page accounts, as are the six "must see" exhibits which had been touched on previously. These accounts reach consistently-high levels of detail and quality, with the information presented within covering subjects such as the conservation work undertaken by Chester Zoo, breeding successes within the collection, details of the specific individuals held at the zoo, and remarks on the day-to-day lifestyle and behaviour of the species in question. Moreover, the accounts relating to particularly significant species contain tables showing vital statistics such as conservation status, size, diet and range. As is the case throughout this guidebook, the accounts are lushly-illustrated with colour photographs showing the species and exhibits under discussion.
Given the wide range of detailed and high-quality accounts within this section of the guidebook, it has proven somewhat difficult to select which particular portions should be highlighted here through use of scanned double-page spreads; I could have easily provided any number of alternative images and conveyed the quality and general format of the accounts just as well, but I ultimately decided to highlight three of the exhibit accounts relating to some of the newest developments within the collection at the time of publication - the Twilight Forest bat house, the Spirit of the Jaguar house, and the Tsavo complex for Black Rhinoceros. Hopefully, these provide a good insight into the quality and content of this guidebook where the animal/exhibit accounts are concerned!
The guidebook concludes with a wide range of further essays and discussions relating to Chester Zoo, the various attractions and amenities found at the collection beyond the animal exhibits, and various other subjects; these include discussion of the gardens and botanical displays within the zoo, the use of the zoo as a venue for functions and events, a "frequently asked questions" section and a brief but detailed description of the importance of zoological collections in the present day, making reference to the "Five Freedoms" of animal welfare.
However, perhaps the most important - and certainly the lengthiest, comprising as it does several segments covering a variety of subtopics - is the significant level of discussion relating to the conservation work undertaken by the collection both ex-situ and in-situ. The above image, showing a portion of a table listing the various endangered species held by Chester Zoo at the time of publication, their conservation status, any relevant breeding successes by the collection and information on which taxa were subject to managed programmes, comes from the aforementioned section on conservation work which is situated prior to the animal/exhibit accounts. However, I feel it is worth highlighting here given the relevance it has to these accounts, which provide further insight into the in-situ and ex-situ conservation work undertaken by the collection through use of a map showing the various locations throughout the world where Chester Zoo is involved with such projects.
The guidebook concludes with a detailed and high-quality fold-out map of the collection within the interior rear cover; not only are the various paths and exhibits illustrated clearly and in an aesthetically-pleasing fashion, greatly increasing the ease of navigation throughout the zoo through use of the map, but each of the exhibits, paddocks and enclosures are labelled succinctly. Interestingly, the map also contains a scale bar, thereby providing an insight into the size of the collection and the distance between exhibits; this is something which I have encountered in very few zoological maps, and which I feel would vastly enhance the quality and utility of such material were it more commonplace. In many ways, the high quality and visual appeal of this map is bittersweet, given how starkly different it is to the maps printed by Chester Zoo over the course of the last decade or so; these, sad to say, are much simpler, aesthetically-jarring to look at, and quite frankly confusing to use.
All things considered, then, this guidebook represents one of the very best that the UK zoological landscape has produced in recent decades; it is rich in detail, providing information which is interesting and relevant both to zoo enthusiasts and casual visitors and covers a wide range of subjects, and is presented in an attractive and aesthetically-pleasing fashion. As such, the fact that this is also one of the very last guidebooks published by the collection before it ceased to produce material of this sort provokes a distinct sense of loss; although Chester Zoo itself has continued to develop and flourish over the decade-and-a-half since the publication of this guidebook, the decision to both cease producing guidebooks and severely dumb-down the quality of the maps produced at the collection is a glaring omission.... particularly when the cited reason for both decisions is the erroneous belief that an "app" renders guidebooks and maps irrelevant, ignoring (among other things) the fact that such things are seldom-if-ever archived or accessible in retrospect.
I have most certainly omitted a vast amount of information in this discussion; as such I suspect there is even more grounds for discussion, feedback and questions than usual. I open the floor to you!
