Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Durrell management

[MRJ]

I have only been to Jersey Zoo twice, first time in 1996 to do a course, the second in 2014 or 15(?) to catch up with people and have another look.

Even in 1996 there was a discussion as to whether a conservation organization working mostly in-situ needed a zoo, especially if the later was running at a loss.

By the time of my second visit, some common but "popular" species were being added to the collection, notably meerkats. The strategy as explained to me at the time was to encourage repeat visitation by locals, especially families. The entry food venue had also been recently opened. I was told the objective was to provide a destination cafe for locals.

The point I'm making is that the issue of what to do with the zoo is longstanding, and not easy to resolve. That does not excuse poor animal welfare, if indeed that is occurring.

Perhaps they should bring back the 'Z' word...?

I'm not sure what this means, but Jersey Zoo is marketed as Jersey Zoo, and except for a short period, always has been. Durrell is in the name of the overall organization and could be expected to be an advantage when looking for support from major donors, who are more likely to be aware of the association

I think people have been complaining about the ignorance of young people for as long as humans have been around. I remember in 1977 my tutor in first year Politics complaining that most students did not know about the Vietnam War, which only ended for Australia five years previously.

 

[ZooNews2024]

I have only been to Jersey Zoo twice, first time in 1996 to do a course, the second in 2014 or 15(?) to catch up with people and have another look.

Even in 1996 there was a discussion as to whether a conservation organization working mostly in-situ needed a zoo, especially if the later was running at a loss.

By the time of my second visit, some common but "popular" species were being added to the collection, notably meerkats. The strategy as explained to me at the time was to encourage repeat visitation by locals, especially families. The entry food venue had also been recently opened. I was told the objective was to provide a destination cafe for locals.

The point I'm making is that the issue of what to do with the zoo is longstanding, and not easy to resolve. That does not excuse poor animal welfare, if indeed that is occurring.


I'm not sure what this means, but Jersey Zoo is marketed as Jersey Zoo, and except for a short period, always has been. Durrell is in the name of the overall organization and could be expected to be an advantage when looking for support from major donors, who are more likely to be aware of the association

I think people have been complaining about the ignorance of young people for as long as humans have been around. I remember in 1977 my tutor in first year Politics complaining that most students did not know about the Vietnam War, which only ended for Australia five years previously.

Unless you knew who the man was, the logo does not give much of an idea what you are going to see.

and when I Googled it, the questions that came up were:
Who was Gerald Durrell?
Was Gerald Durrell a Vet?
Does Jersey still have a Zoo?
It does sound as though there are some major challenges ahead, but if only 10% of the organisations budget comes from the zoo, it is making a loss, and the tourist economy of the island does not re-bound; then perhaps it will become another housing estate, like so many zoos of the era did on the mainland - once the founder was no more and forgotten.
Sad, even if not a sign of the times...

 

[TeaLovingDave]

This man was a pivotal influence on those of us over a certain age when books were the source of education and information - along with a list of others, Scott, Wayre, Cansdale, Drabble etc (Keeling even), and to a lesser extent Attenborough.

On a minor sidenote, although I recognise all of the other names, Drabble doesn't ring a bell - I'd be interested to hear to whom that reference pertains!

 

[Tim Brown]

Phil Drabble was a frequent visitor to television as a naturalist in the 60s/70s though not particularly associated with zoos...in fact I think he ended up presenting "One Man And His Dog " !

 

[FBBird]

Phil Drabble was a frequent visitor to television as a naturalist in the 60s/70s though not particularly associated with zoos...in fact I think he ended up presenting "One Man And His Dog " !

He did a very good pet care book for Penguin, and wrote other books on dogs, some of his unusual pets, and developing his nature reserve

 

[Tim Brown]

Again,im not up-to-date on this but I think the finances of Durrell are quite robust with,as Mike Aubert says,the zoo making up only a fraction of total income. However,the zoo is the visible face of the organisation and should come over as a vibrant and active place - whether the average visitor visits for a warm ,cosy, feeling of conservation in action ,or a day out, is open to debate - I suspect the latter. We might note at this juncture that ,on at least one occasion,the Trust has had the opportunity to set up a facilty on mainland England (told to me by a fairly senior ex-member of staff) and declined. If this is indeed true ,then this could have spread the Durrell message somewhat wider than is currently the case.

 

[Cobi]

Announcement concerning the name from 2017 which I think is relevant to the current conversation:

Time to be a zoo again | Durrell

Today we announce that we will be changing the name of the zoo in Jersey, formerly Durrell Wildlife Park, back to Jersey Zoo, with effect from 3rd April 2017.

When Gerald Durrell founded Jersey Zoo in 1959, he was a pioneer in his belief that good zoos could do great things in conservation. Today Durrell continues that mission and we believe that we set an exemplary example of best in class zoo practice across animal husbandry, education, science and conservation.

By definition from the Oxford English Dictionary, a zoo is ‘An establishment which maintains a collection of wild animals, typically in a park or gardens, for study, conservation, or display to the public’

Commenting on this change, Dr Lesley Dickie, CEO, says: "At Durrell we are proud to be a zoo and the work we do both here in Jersey and in the wild all follows the same mission – to save species from extinction. Zoos are now the fourth largest funders of conservation in the world and we are pleased to make a significant contribution. We are also proud that Jersey is our home and this name change re-affirms that"

The global organization, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, will not be affected by this change which only refers to the zoo. The primary objective of the name change is making the zoo more visible to visitors to the island as well as staying true to the wishes of our founder, Gerald Durrell, who originally named it Jersey Zoo when it opened nearly 60 years ago.

Durrell members will still be members of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and one of the benefits of membership is access to Jersey Zoo.

Dr Dickie further comments; "We recently carried out a survey at Jersey airport of visitors leaving the island and many tourists did not know that there was a zoo here. This was a big problem, accompanied by the fact I kept meeting people in my first few weeks in Jersey who apologised for referring to Durrell as a zoo. Zoo is a universally recognised word whereas wildlife park means different things in different languages"

Dr Lee Durrell, Honorary Director, is very much in support of this change and comments: "Putting ‘zoo’ back into Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is something I welcome, for it reinforces what Gerald Durrell had been working towards all his life - to ensure that zoos are genuine and powerful instruments for conservation. Ten years ago, we made a conscious decision to avoid the word ‘zoo’, because of its perceived negative connotations. Today we embrace it, because modern zoos have made great progress in the service of conservation, both in the zoo setting and in the wild, through innovative research, professional training, inspirational public education and improvements in animal wellbeing. Gerry and his early team had pioneered much of this, and Durrell will continue its ground-breaking work through Jersey Zoo".

We hope that our members, visitors and the people of Jersey will support this change and continue to enjoy our beautiful zoo and all it has to offer.

 

[ZooNews2024]

Again,im not up-to-date on this but I think the finances of Durrell are quite robust with,as Mike Aubert says,the zoo making up only a fraction of total income. However,the zoo is the visible face of the organisation and should come over as a vibrant and active place - whether the average visitor visits for a warm ,cosy, feeling of conservation in action ,or a day out, is open to debate - I suspect the latter. We might note at this juncture that ,on at least one occasion,the Trust has had the opportunity to set up a facilty on mainland England (told to me by a fairly senior ex-member of staff) and declined. If this is indeed true ,then this could have spread the Durrell message somewhat wider than is currently the case.

Would relocating to the mainland really make much difference? The zoo really would then need some ABC species to bring in good visitor numbers, and at least on Jersey it has no direct competition.
All (?) it has to do it to provide a nice cross section of interesting and visible animals in the pretty setting it has, and it will satisfy the casual day tripper, if Jersey has many of those left - and present a selection of those spp it is working with in-situ and it will serve its specialists too. On the mainland it would need to bring in big cats and polar bears to compete with the rest.
The WWT is well based on the mainland, but doesnt seem to be doing that much to further Scotts memory and achievements. I think it could be argued that he was at least as (if not more) influential than Durrell and he has just a couple of short paragraphs and one picture on their website.
Surely in the days of the instant internet the Durrell message can be spread from any base, if the organisation wants to do so.

 

[Tim Brown]

Ah, but there`s nothing like living animals if you really want to send a zoological message (our friends at Born Free found that out). To me ,thats the main reason why zoos exist. The proposed spot was a major conurbation without a zoo...Durrell`s message could have been such that mega-vertebrates might not have been needed at all (WWT do without them).

 

[Strathmorezoo]

I own a book, it's called The Facts About A Zoo, Jersey Zoo infact. It was written in 1980 by Jeremy Mallinson,who at that time was Zoo Director. At the end of the book, he compiled a list of mammals, birds and reptiles, of which he highlights species kept at the zoo, which are endangered.
Out of 32 species of mammals, 15 are endangered
Out of 62 species of birds, 19 are endangered
Out of 16 species of reptiles, 6 are endangered.
Personally, looking at this list makes me wonder if we have been looking back at Jersey Zoo wearing rose tinted spectacles

 

[Tetzoo Quizzer]

Just as an aside, one of the questions I could have answered in my Zoology finals paper way back in 1978 was “The history of Science bores most Scientists stiff; explain why you are or are not one of this majority.” Had I answered I would have said I was part of the majority; however the same afternoon I wrote an essay on the importance of Archaeopteryx using a historical outlook!

 

[Mike Aubert]

I own a book, it's called The Facts About A Zoo, Jersey Zoo infact. It was written in 1980 by Jeremy Mallinson,who at that time was Zoo Director. At the end of the book, he compiled a list of mammals, birds and reptiles, of which he highlights species kept at the zoo, which are endangered.
Out of 32 species of mammals, 15 are endangered
Out of 62 species of birds, 19 are endangered
Out of 16 species of reptiles, 6 are endangered.
Personally, looking at this list makes me wonder if we have been looking back at Jersey Zoo wearing rose tinted spectacles

I wonder how the current catalog of species would compare..?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I wonder how the current catalog of species would compare..?

Out of sheer boredom - and with the usual caveat about Zootierliste listings often being outdated or inaccurate:

Mammals: Wild 14/28 or Wild and Domestic 14/29 = 50.00% or 48.27% (previously 46.88%)
Birds: 13/47 = 27.65% (previously 30.65%)
Reptiles: 9/34 = 26.47% (previously 37.50%)

 

[ZooNews2024]

On a minor sidenote, although I recognise all of the other names, Drabble doesn't ring a bell - I'd be interested to hear to whom that reference pertains!

Continuing the sidenote, my apologies... Phil Drabble was a conservationist, author and broadcaster who wrote close on 30 books between the end of the 40s and the 90s. I can remember such titles as 'Design for a Wilderness, 'Badgers at my Window' and 'A Weasel in my Meatsafe'!
His 'nature reserve' was/is 90 acres of historic woodland on the Bagot estate in Staffordshire (where the goats come from), actually called Goat Lodge Reserve - which is now an SSSI.

 

[TriUK]

Again,im not up-to-date on this but I think the finances of Durrell are quite robust with,as Mike Aubert says,the zoo making up only a fraction of total income. However,the zoo is the visible face of the organisation and should come over as a vibrant and active place - whether the average visitor visits for a warm ,cosy, feeling of conservation in action ,or a day out, is open to debate - I suspect the latter. We might note at this juncture that ,on at least one occasion,the Trust has had the opportunity to set up a facilty on mainland England (told to me by a fairly senior ex-member of staff) and declined. If this is indeed true ,then this could have spread the Durrell message somewhat wider than is currently the case.

Collaborate and join Wild Planet Trust aka Whitley Wildlife Trust? Durrell would be a great partner & sharing resources/expertise would be great?

 

[MRJ]

On a minor sidenote, although I recognise all of the other names, Drabble doesn't ring a bell - I'd be interested to hear to whom that reference pertains!

Actually, the only names I recognize are Scott and Attenborough. The others must be particularly British.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Actually, the only names I recognize are Scott and Attenborough. The others must be particularly British.

George Cansdale was Superintendent of the Zoological Society of London between 1947 and 1953, and subsequently was a fairly prolific natural history author and television personality, and at various points the director of Skegness Natureland, Chessington Zoo and Morecambe Marineland.

Philip Wayre was a naturalist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer active from the 1950s onwards whose achievements include the founding of the Otter Trust (which pretty much entirely saved the Eurasian Otter from extinction within Great Britain) and the Ornamental Pheasant Trust (which pioneered the captive breeding of many gamebird species); he was also the founder of Norfolk Wildlife Park, which was one of the first zoological collections to use the term "wildlife park" and to largely focus on the native fauna of Europe.

Clinton Keeling was active in many zoo-adjacent spheres, being an author, a failed zoo-owner, a zoo historian, a facilitator for zoo enthusiasts to make acquaintance with one another, and above all - by all accounts - an extreme eccentric, and has been discussed at some length elsewhere on the forum, with many of the posts coming from those who knew him (for better or for worse!). I never met him myself, but as he founded the Bartlett Society - the archive of which I am now fortunate enough to be the custodian of - he definitely has played a role in my own life.

 

[ZooNews2024]

George Cansdale was Superintendent of the Zoological Society of London between 1947 and 1953, and subsequently was a fairly prolific natural history author and television personality, and at various points the director of Skegness Natureland, Chessington Zoo and Morecambe Marineland.

Philip Wayre was a naturalist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer active from the 1950s onwards whose achievements include the founding of the Otter Trust (which pretty much entirely saved the Eurasian Otter from extinction within Great Britain) and the Ornamental Pheasant Trust (which pioneered the captive breeding of many gamebird species); he was also the founder of Norfolk Wildlife Park, which was one of the first zoological collections to use the term "wildlife park" and to largely focus on the native fauna of Europe.

Clinton Keeling was active in many zoo-adjacent spheres, being an author, a failed zoo-owner, a zoo historian, a facilitator for zoo enthusiasts to make acquaintance with one another, and above all - by all accounts - an extreme eccentric, and has been discussed at some length elsewhere on the forum, with many of the posts coming from those who knew him (for better or for worse!). I never met him myself, but as he founded the Bartlett Society - the archive of which I am now fortunate enough to be the custodian of - he definitely has played a role in my own life.

Thank you TLD for your precise summary.

I am surprised that Keeling would have needed to be explained, as there has been so much discussion of him on this site.

Cansdale might be a bit 'early' for many readers, but it is remarkable (to a Brit at least) that Wayre appears unknown outside these islands. In addition, I might mention he was a well know broadcaster, at least in the east for Anglia Television, and hosted a prime-time childrens TV quiz programme called 'The Survival Game' where teams of school children competed to answer questions on live animals from the Norfolk Wildlife Park ushered into the studio by Roy Grout, park manager. Wayre was quizmaster and his tame European Eagle Owl (named 'Bubo') sat on a perch with him at his desk. Presumably this programme was filmed live, as I cannot find any evidence of it in any film archives.

The word 'ornamental' was soon dropped from the title of The Pheasant Trust which became a considerable conservation organisation involved in some of the earliest re-introduction programmes with a number of species, giving a foundation for the work of The Otter Trust which Wayre set up to re-establish the otter in the UK. Pheasants and otters from the respective trusts work were housed at the Norfolk Wildlife Park, both on display to the public and in a privately-accessible and members-only breeding centre behind the main park.
An eventual breakdown in the relationship with some of the senior members of The Pheasant Trust let to a break-away group setting up the World Pheasant Association, and of course The Otter Trust founded its own centres(zoos) in Suffolk and Cornwall.

edit - so far as I know, Cansdale's family still owns Skegness Natureland today.

 

[MRJ]

Thank you TLD for your precise summary.

I am surprised that Keeling would have needed to be explained, as there has been so much discussion of him on this site.

Cansdale might be a bit 'early' for many readers, but it is remarkable (to a Brit at least) that Wayre appears unknown outside these islands. In addition, I might mention he was a well know broadcaster, at least in the east for Anglia Television, and hosted a prime-time childrens TV quiz programme called 'The Survival Game' where teams of school children competed to answer questions on live animals from the Norfolk Wildlife Park ushered into the studio by Roy Grout, park manager. Wayre was quizmaster and his tame European Eagle Owl (named 'Bubo') sat on a perch with him at his desk. Presumably this programme was filmed live, as I cannot find any evidence of it in any film archives.

The word 'ornamental' was soon dropped from the title of The Pheasant Trust which became a considerable conservation organisation involved in some of the earliest re-introduction programmes with a number of species, giving a foundation for the work of The Otter Trust which Wayre set up to re-establish the otter in the UK. Pheasants and otters from the respective trusts work were housed at the Norfolk Wildlife Park, both on display to the public and in a privately-accessible and members-only breeding centre behind the main park.
An eventual breakdown in the relationship with some of the senior members of The Pheasant Trust let to a break-away group setting up the World Pheasant Association, and of course The Otter Trust founded its own centres(zoos) in Suffolk and Cornwall.

edit - so far as I know, Cansdale's family still owns Skegness Natureland today.

I am surprised that given the biographies above, there would be any expectation that any of the above would be known beyond Britian.

Attenborough may be famous today, but as a child I knew him from two volumes of Zoo Quest in the local library. I found him less engaging than Durrell.

Scott I knew of through reading Durrell, and from reading about Slimbridge in various zoo books.

I was aware of the Norfolk Wildlife Park and the Pheasant Trust (I kept pheasants) and given the context Wayre's name is familiar.

Yes, now you mention it, I have seen Keeling mentioned around here, but not in threads I have followed intensively.

The others are completely new to me. Not that they don't sound like interesting characters.

For me growing up it was names like Fleay, Worrell, Serventy, Pizzey and Butler, amongst others, who thrilled and inspired me. At various times, they would all have been household names in Australia. Not, of course, that I would have expected you to be aware of any of them.

 

[Pertinax]

Philip Wayre was a naturalist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer active from the 1950s onwards whose achievements include the founding of the Otter Trust (which pretty much entirely saved the Eurasian Otter from extinction within Great Britain) .

I think he really only saved the Otter from extinction in East Anglia...they were never in danger in Scotland and afaik, despite having a sanctuary near Launceston in Cornwall, the South West population recovered and spread without any assistance from the Otter Trust.