Come dine with me!

David Attenborough - a role model to most animal-lovers of my generation.
Gerald Durrell - one of the most (positively) influential figures in zoo history.
Antoon van Hooff - he created something truly amazing at Arnhem.
Frederick John Horniman - the man who bought the incredible natural history collection to my childhood zoo.
William G. Conway - one of the greatest zoo directors in history.
 
My choices would be:
  • David Attenborough
  • Jane Goodall
  • Edward Osborne Wilson
  • Charles Darwin
  • Alfred Russel Wallace
 
Some of these people, while they were impressive in their field, were awful people. I'd attend their talks but why ruin a good meal?
Some, on the other hand, were/are delightful people who would make a meal much richer by their presence
 
Bruce Bryden: a Game ranger in the Kruger for 50 years. The stories this man must of had!
Willie Labuschagne: The former director of Pretoria Zoo and the WAZA.
James Stevenson-Hamilton: he established the Kruger National Park and reintroduced many species, including the giraffe and Rhino (Which believe it or not, were exceptionally rare in Kruger in the early 20th century)
Phillip Cronje: Worked closely with Jane Goodall and helped to establish the Chimp Sanctuary in South Africa. Spent some time as the head of small mammals at the Johannesburg Zoo.
David Livingstone: Ever since I read his Biography, in the book Africa in the footsteps of Great Explorers, I have looked up to this man.
A great naturalist, geographer, cartographer, and explorer.
He survived Malaria many times until he finally succumbed to it in his later years.
His two close friends James Chuma and Abdullah Susi carved out his heart and buried it near the Bangweulu swamps, then marched to Zanzibar for his body to be buried in Scotland. True dedication for a man whose heart lies in Africa but his home in Scotland!
 
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