Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust Jersey zoo

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Animal Rights

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Hello,
I am working as Communications Officer at the Wildlife Trust of India and attended a course at Jersey Zoo in 1999. I was reading this very fascinating discussion on how Jersey Zoo has changed over the years(In my opinion for the worse). I noted with interest the queries regarding the Tuataras at Jersey Zoo. gerald Durrell did write about them in his book ' Menagerie Manor.' Could any one of you tell me something about the Gharials they might have kept? Durrell wrote about them too in ' Menagerie Manor' but when I enquired about them in Jersey, I was told they had never kept the species. I have been a memeber of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trsut since 1991 and do read about their activities. Currently they are certainly trying to sustain themselves financially by making themselves more appealing to the public. Don't know what Gerald Durrell would have made of their popular moves. You could write to me directly at shubhobrotoghosh@gmail.com . Thanks.
 
To be honest, no. I am not in regular touch with them. This Gharial information is in 'Menagerie Manor' if I am not very mistaken. I used to be in regular touch with Philip Coffey, former education officer of Jersey Zoo when I was a member of the Dodo Club. To be honest, I wan't too impressed witht he zoo. I mean a lot of people go thetre for these courses from developing countries and they think that it is the demigod of zoos and the best zoo in the world and the world's most perfect zoo and all the rest of it. well, i personally found it to be a decent captive animal facility but way off being perfect(well nothing is perfect). but that impression is possibly duue to my interest in animal rights and welfare(i am a member of the born free foundation that is in essence against zoos). my childhood was spent reading gerald durrell madly and i have quite a collection of his books. i wrote his obituary in a newspaper called the statesman in kolkata(showed it to lee durrell and jeremey mallinson when i was there). but my ideas on zoos and also gerald durell have changed over the years. if you read Gerald Durrell carefully, you will realise he bore racism against non white people and this is reflected in most of his books, if not all. this has also been highlighted in his biography by douglas botting. also i saw domestic doves kept as surrogate mothers for pink pigeons in what i considered to be inadequate conditions. also there were two pythons in the education department that were kept in avery small glass cage. i guess most jersey zoo trainees and visitors would overlook these flaws because the publicity and conservation halo surrounding this institution is so great and durrell has become a myth and a legend. but after seventeen years of association with them, i can trulty say that their publicty is greater than their actual achievements. it is quite convenient to work in islands with small species so that you get all the glory. as far as zoos go, it is a good zoo but nothing great. and certainly not an institution out of the world as claimed to be. i'll see if i can get some information on the Gharials there. thanks.
 
I've been a member of the trust since 1974 and I am not aware of Jersey ever having gharials.
 
This is the extract from 'Menagerie Manor' by Gerald Durrell which speaks about Gharials:
I think the worst force-feeding job we ever had was with a pair of young gavials, or gharials. These are Asiatic members of the crocodile family, and in the wild state feed on fish. Instead of the strong, rather blunt jaws of the alligators and crocodiles, the gavial's jaws are long and slender, resembling a beak more than anything. Both the jaws and the teeth are fragile, the teeth especially so, for they appear to fall out if you look at them. In consequence, when our two young gavials arrived and steadfastly refused all food, including live fish in their pond, our hearts sank, as we realized we would have to force-feed them. The process was tedious, protracted and difficult, and had to be done once a week for a year before the gavials would feed on their own. First, you take a firm grip on the back of the creature's neck and his tail. Then you lift him out of the tank and place him on a convenient flat surface. Whoever is helping you then slides a flat, smooth piece of wood between the jaws at the back of the mouth, immediately behind the last teeth. When the jaws are prised a little apart, you slightly release your grip on the reptile's neck and slide your hand forward, push your thumb and forefinger between the jaws, and hold them apart. This is generally much easier than it sounds. The other person then arms himself with a long, slender stick and a plateful of rawmeat chunks or raw fish. He impales a piece of meat or fish on the end of the stick, inserts it into the reptile's mouth, and pushes it towards the back of the throat. This is the tricky part,for in all members of the crocodile family the throat is closed by a flap of skin; this arrangement allows the creature to open its mouth beneath the surface without swallowing vast quantities of water. The food has to be pushed past this flap of skin and well down into the throat. Then you massage the throat until you feel the food slide down into the stomach.
As I say, it is a tedious task, as much for the gavial as for you.

I got this from the online version of the book(http://www.durrell.ru/books/new/MM.pdf) and I have read it in hard copy as well. Maybe it was a False Gharial or something that Gerald Durrell was writing about? Quite interesting that I was told that this species was never kept in Jersey when there is a description of it in one of Gerald Durrell's books.
 
Animal Rights said:
Quite interesting that I was told that this species was never kept in Jersey when there is a description of it in one of Gerald Durrell's books.
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I didn't mean to say they've never had gharials, only that I don't know of any. From the extract it seems that they have kept them, maybe in the zoos early years.
 
Gharials in Jersey Zoo

I meant the reply I got from Phillip Coffey, the former Education Officer of Jersey Zoo. Thanks. It seems like a mystery animal in Jersey!
 
Animal Rights said:
To be honest, no. I am not in regular touch with them. This Gharial information is in 'Menagerie Manor' if I am not very mistaken. I used to be in regular touch with Philip Coffey, former education officer of Jersey Zoo when I was a member of the Dodo Club. To be honest, I wan't too impressed witht he zoo. I mean a lot of people go thetre for these courses from developing countries and they think that it is the demigod of zoos and the best zoo in the world and the world's most perfect zoo and all the rest of it. well, i personally found it to be a decent captive animal facility but way off being perfect(well nothing is perfect). but that impression is possibly duue to my interest in animal rights and welfare(i am a member of the born free foundation that is in essence against zoos). my childhood was spent reading gerald durrell madly and i have quite a collection of his books. i wrote his obituary in a newspaper called the statesman in kolkata(showed it to lee durrell and jeremey mallinson when i was there). but my ideas on zoos and also gerald durell have changed over the years. if you read Gerald Durrell carefully, you will realise he bore racism against non white people and this is reflected in most of his books, if not all. this has also been highlighted in his biography by douglas botting. also i saw domestic doves kept as surrogate mothers for pink pigeons in what i considered to be inadequate conditions. also there were two pythons in the education department that were kept in avery small glass cage. i guess most jersey zoo trainees and visitors would overlook these flaws because the publicity and conservation halo surrounding this institution is so great and durrell has become a myth and a legend. but after seventeen years of association with them, i can trulty say that their publicty is greater than their actual achievements. it is quite convenient to work in islands with small species so that you get all the glory. as far as zoos go, it is a good zoo but nothing great. and certainly not an institution out of the world as claimed to be. i'll see if i can get some information on the Gharials there. thanks.
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I appreciate that many people have differing points of view of what makes a good zoo (I would be a hypocrite to suggest otherwise), but I feel that some of your criticisms of Jersey are slightly misplaced. Nobody (in their right mind) would ever suggest that Jersey is a 'perfect' zoo. If you look at the old photos and Durrell's stories of the zoo's origins then Jersey is nothing more than a personal menagerie of species collected on his trips. The zoo since that time (50s) has gone through several peaks and troughs, always changing with the times. Some exhibits aren't world-class and others are making best use of the existing facilities, but Jersey's philosophy was not to have expensive world-class exhibits. All in all I would say that the current level of animal-keeping is of a high standard. I'm not sure what your experiences through Born Free have given you, but knowing something of the organisation's motives, then no exhibit would be considered satisfactory.

I would not condone Durrell's opinion of non-whites but feel that this does not have any bearing on his conservation values. And more-so you should keep in mind that alot of what he wrote was from the 50s and 60s, and so not exactly out of place for the time. Maybe I would feel more slighted had I not been white.

I don't think that visitors to Jersey overlook any flaws; I would hazard a guess that they take the institution on face value. It is a nice place to wander around with well-kept animals. Similarly I don't think trainees are necessarily doey-eyed about Durrell and Jersey. I too have completed the Summer course and many of my fellow students asked the difficult questions.

Yes they do have a good PR dept to showcase their work, and directions have changed in the 10+ years since Durrell's death, but I don't think that this diminishs the current work. Tourism on Jersey has meant that the zoo has had to adapt to the changing environment.

I don't know what you mean by 'it is quite convenient to work in islands with small species so that you get all the glory'. Would Jersey have been better if they had only tackled the larger species in large countries? Part of Jersey's fame has been that they tackle the conservation of species that other zoos might in the past ignore. And they also try to bring local communities into the conservation of those species too. If anything I think this is something to laud Jersey with not beat them.

Lastly i don't think Jersey have ever claimed to be 'out of the world'. I'm sure they would be embarassed to think that. As a former keeper and someone that has visited Jersey three times over a 14 year stretch, I would say that Jersey is a very good zoo with a great track record in conservation. I also think that Durrell was the brains and heart behind a 'new' way of thinking in zoo conservation, and for that he wins points with me. By no means was the man perfect, however.
 
lets not forget that jersey/durrell has saved many species almost single handed that would other wise be extinct.

anyway i've read that they have kept lions (and i presume african) i've also read that a lion had to had a ceasaerian (how on earth do you spell it?) i was just wondering if anyone knows anymore about the lions? :D
 
foz said:
lets not forget that jersey/durrell has saved many species almost single handed that would other wise be extinct.

anyway i've read that they have kept lions (and i presume african) i've also read that a lion had to had a ceasaerian (how on earth do you spell it?) i was just wondering if anyone knows anymore about the lions? :D
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Indeed, many species would be extinct were it not for durrell. The zoo revolutionized conservation and brought zoos a new purpose - for captive breeding.

They did keep lions. There is information on them in Zoo Tails, by Oliver Graham-something, and Menagerie Manor, by Gerald Durrell. I think there is some on the caesarean in zoo tails although it was a library book and i haven't read it for ages so i'm not sure. The male, Leo, came from Dublin Zoo when just a cub and originally lived in the small mammal house, before moving into the chimp enclosure and then into one of his own. He did have several females with him over the years but i don't know much about them.

I believe durrell also kept cheetah and snow leopard in the early days.

P.S. It's caesarean.
 
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Animal Rights said:
i can trulty say that their publicty is greater than their actual achievements. it is quite convenient to work in islands with small species so that you get all the glory.
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I'm sorry can't let that one go without comment. That is really quite an insulting comment. Anybody who has worked in wildlife conservation will tell you it is the big animals, the rhinos, tigers, and gorillas, that get the attention and the money. Durrell (both the man and the current institution) have constantly worked in obscure parts of the world with obscure creatures. As far as conservation organisations go they are one of the smallest. Yet their achievements in species saved and habitats restored have been outstanding and ground breaking. They pioneered conservation breeding in zoos, then they pioneered in-situ conservation breeding. In zoo-keeping they pioneered proper record-keeping, and they also introduced the scientist-keeper, raising the status of the keeper from a "poo-scooper" to a professional. If they no longer stand out, that is because others have followed their lead (thank goodness).

Animal Rights said:
if you read Gerald Durrell carefully, you will realise he bore racism against non white people and this is reflected in most of his books,
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Sure he wrote in a way we would now consider demeaning to many non-white people. So what? He was a product of his time. He was also very sexist, and drank far too much. One of my favourite quotes is "the past is like a foreign country, they do things differently there". He was (literally) a product of the Raj. But whatever he wrote was with affection, one could never say he was vicious or damming in his writings. And that can never take away from his conservation efforts.

Actually I think that if Durrell was starting afresh today, he would not be starting a zoo in an European country, he would be working in-sutu, But hindsight is always perfect, and Jersey has given the world a lot they can be proud of.
 
redpanda said:
Indeed, many species would be extinct were it not for durrell. The zoo revolutionized conservation and brought zoos a new purpose - for captive breeding.

They did keep lions. There is information on them in Zoo Tails, by Oliver Graham-something, and Menagerie Manor, by Gerald Durrell. I think there is some on the caesarean in zoo tails although it was a library book and i haven't read it for ages so i'm not sure. The male, Leo, came from Dublin Zoo when just a cub and originally lived in the small mammal house, before moving into the chimp enclosure and then into one of his own. He did have several females with him over the years but i don't know much about them.

I believe durrell also kept cheetah and snowleopard in the early days.

P.S. It's caesarean.
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One of the cubs produced by the caesarean, was named Oliver after the vet, two were alive, two were dead.

I've got the book Zoo tails (by Oliver Graham Jones) in front of me, "He even repopulated an island, by replacing species that had long ago been decimated, to prove it could be done." - what species is he talkinga bout and where?

Oh and thanks for caesarean ;)
 
Probably refers to Round Island and Serpent Island off the coast of Mauritius. All the alien vegetation and the rats were cleared away and the lizards re-introduced.
 
Django said:
They pioneered conservation breeding in zoos, then they pioneered in-situ conservation breeding. In zoo-keeping they pioneered proper record-keeping, and they also introduced the scientist-keeper, raising the status of the keeper from a "poo-scooper" to a professional. If they no longer stand out, that is because others have followed their lead (thank goodness).
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Don't frget "The Dodo". Very few zooogical institutions back then (or even today) produce a publication of that high calibre.


@Animal Rights: You should try reading "The Stationary Ark". Durrell wrote it in the 1970's and it should be essential reading for anyone working in a zoo. When it was written, Jersey was the only zoo doing what it suggests and most of the other world zoos were stamp collections, or just set up for entertainment purposes (with the occasional exceptions).

In the early 1990's London Zoo (by and large, a stamp collection) almost closed. An organisation - Zoo Check - had been targeting London Zoo for some years and had swayed a lot of the public against the zoo. it was only a generous benefactor at the last minute that kept the zoo going. After that, zoos around the world started justifying their existence with the "four basic functions of a zoo - conservation, research, education and recreation". Exactly what Durrell had been saying in "The Stationary Ark" 15 years before. As Django said above - Jersey no longer stands out because so many have followed their lead.

Or, as it happens, appear to follow their lead. "Conservation" appears to have become the main justification for a zoos existence. Unfortunately, I think too many zoos believe that conservation means holding a pair of rare animals and breeding them (but that's another discussion).

I was at the zoo in the early eighties when it was different to pretty much every other zoo. It was refreshing to talk to staff about real conservation work, and not listening to concepts for milking the visitors for as much as they could.

redpanda said:
I believe durrell also kept cheetah and snowleopard in the early days.
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Not just the early days, they had both species in the 1980's.

As for gavials, if Durrell was helping to forcefeed them, it would have most likely been back in the early 60's, as he didn't get the time to play with the animals that much later on.

:)

Hix
 
Gerald Durrell and Jersey Zoo

Thank you for all the enlightening and diverse replies. Well, I am not denying that Jersey Zoo and Gerald
Durrell did good work, it is just that I think their publicity machinery has been more effective than one would believe. I'll make a few points:
Was there really such a need to invest so much money in a place like Mauritius for conservation? I think the focus that Mauritius got from Jersey would have been better placed for the work they did/do in Brazil in saving Golden Lion Tamarins and related species.
As an Indian, I don't know of any major Durrell initiative in mainland India(excepting the Pygmy Hog project in Assam). This seems like a miracle and I am somewhat at a loss to understand why they have not carried out something for Indian animals on a larger scale.
How many species has Jersey actually 'saved', ie., which species would have almost surely gone extinct without their help? I would be genuinely interested to know. The Mauritius Kestrel? But were birds released from Jersey to Mauritius? Pink Pigeons? Echo Parakeets? Mallorcan Midwife Toads? What else?
Regarding their work on islands, I think they might be better off devoting the same resources to less
glamourous animals in more diversity rich areas such as rainforests in Asia, South America and Africa.
My association with Born Free Foundation. Well they changed my outlook on zoos and it has been a change for the better. They are philosophically against keeping animals in captivity for entertainment, a
stance I totally agree with. Many honest zoo directors acknowledge this. Most notable among them is David Hancocks, former director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. He is one of the very few zoo people who have supported the work of Zoo Check and rightly so. I do know Gerald Durrell had meetings with Bill Travers and his son Will Travers, but from whatever I have read of his works, he was quite stolidly pro zoo. Born Free Foundation is not against captive breeding efforts that genuinely aid the survival of endangered species, they are against the idea of public zoos, where very few animals ever see the light of day by way of reintroduction.
Does Gerald Durrell's racist attitude affect his conservation work? I reckon it does. His initial trips would be roundly censured by any responsible conservationist today and these formed the crux of his collection in Jersey. Also, I think he was instrumental in promoting the idea that some rare and endangered animals were better off in a white man's land like Jersey than in black Madagascar or yellow Brazil and Argentina. I am a human rights activist too and as I have grown, I have found reading Durrell increasingly offensive and biased. This is maybe because I am not white, for had I been white and British, I would possibly have enjoyed some of his racist jibes more. I don't think it is any defence to say that he was a product of the line of thinking that prevailed in the 50s and 60s. Yes, of course he imbibed the prevailing views of his time but there were other contemporaries who went against the tide. For example, veganism founder
Donald Watson, David Attenborough, Desmond Morris and even Sir Peter Scott. I have not read
anything racist in the works of these individuals.
How great a pioneer was Gerald Durrell?
Father of modern zoo management? The first modern zoo management book came out of Kolkata, my home city as early in 1896, 29 years before Gerald Durrell was born in Jamshedpur. I obtained a copy of this book recently, it is called 'A Handbook of the Management of Animals in captivity in Lower Bengal'.
You can read about it here: Ram Brahma Sanyal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Had this man been white and European, the entire conservation and zoo world would have hailed him as a pioneer. It is only of late that some people in US and UK
have recognised his sterling role in zoo management.
Heini Hedigger and Lee S Crandall on both sides of the Atlantic spoke of many of the same zoo issues as Gerald Durrell did, and sometime before Jersey Zoo started.
Did Jersey Zoo pioneer captive breeding or conservation breeding? Debatable in my view. Several zoos in the US were doing the same job before Jersey Zoo was started, Bronx Zoo being one of them. They possibly did not publicise their efforts as effectively as Durrell.
Where I think the success of Jersey Zoo lies is that they have been publicised so well that they have impressed a wide number of people and that I thoroughly appreciate. Jersey Zoo and Gerald Durrell have won many friends for animals, in welfare, conservation and even rights.
However, as far as zoo philosophy goes, or animal rights and animal welfare is concerned, I am inclined to favour Howletts Zoo over Jersey. John Aspinall sincerely believed in animal rights(although his ideas on humans were quite bigoted and lopsided) and was a personal friend of the Born Free Foundation founder, Virginia McKenna. I have been to Howletts and think in some ways, it is better than Jersey but that again is a personal opinion.
I have indeed read The Stationary Ark, there are
very few Gerald Durrell books that I have not read(with the exception of the Puppy Tales). It might be interesting to note that one of Jersey Zoo's own keepers, Stefan Ormrod, written about in 'Menagerie Manor' challenged the zoo concept in a book called 'The Last Great Wild Beast Show.'(co author Bill Jordan).
I have read some of his works and have really found them impressive, maybe an influence of my association with groups like the Born Free Foundation, Zoocheck Canada, WSPA and Captive Animals Protection Society.
Jersey Zoo may well be one of the better zoos in the world, but many slum zoos across the globe justify their existence by quoting the example of Jersey Zoo. In India too, I have seen the same. "Oh zoos, perform a role in conservation," they enthuse, "Just look at Jersey." whilst keeping a tiger in a woebegone 10 foot by 10 foot cage.
As far as animal rights and animal welfare is concerned, zoo people like John Aspinall and David Hancocks have been more sympathetic than Gerald Durrell.
Gerald Durrell was also a supporter of hunting, a view he expressed in his book 'The Whispering Land'. He also enjoyed eating wild animals, a list of which is available in his biography by Douglas Botting. And he did much to promote the concept of keeping animals in captivity, a concept that is increasingly being challenged on scientific and ethical grounds.
I was in Jersey in 1999, I found most of the staff helpful and friendly and sympathetic to animal rights and welfare. Very few resented thorny questions on animal captivity. Lee Durrell is a remarkably polite and considerate individual and does believe in the humane treatment of animals. And certainly Jersey's work in captive breeding is outstanding as far as captive animal facilities go.
My personal view is that they should downsize their collection in Channel Islands and earmark more money for conservation in places like Brazil and Indonesia where they are already working. And I do hope they start more projects in India!
 
I feel that i should really answer some points that you make here.

Firstly, Durrell's racial discriminations. He was born in india at a time when it was ruled by the british empire and, as you gain most of your subconcious fears and beliefs before the age of three, he was obviously going to think himself of elevated status. Durrell was never truly horrible towards those of other races and always paid them agreed amounts for the specimens he bought. Also, Hagenbeck put on ethnographic displays where people were put in cages and yet he is still hailed as a zoo pioneer.

About India and rainforests. You can't save everywhere and Durrell readily admits this. A while back they decided to try and focus on places which were at greatest risk and which had the most endemic fauna. Islands come out very high on this list whereas, if you think about it, most of india's fauna can be found elsewhere. Durrell has always tried to do work where it is most needed - there are already a fleet of organisations attempting to save the rainforests so Durrell focuses elsewhere.

On their publicity. Is it really so bad to do good publicity. Oh no lots of people are learning about conservation, how awful :p. If they didn't publicise how would they get the message out.

Durrell has saved numerous species from extinction and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise. Here is a brief list of some of the most celebrated species which Durrell has been instrumental in saving from extinction:
  • Mallorcan Midwife Toad
  • Pink Pigeon (in answer to your question, this release programme was based mostly in Mauritius but Jersey-bred birds were released)
  • Mauritius Kestrel
  • Echo Parakeet
  • Mountain Chicken
  • Montserrat Oriole
  • Round Island Boa
  • Round Island Gecko
  • Round Island Skink
  • Rodrigues Fruit Bat
  • Alaoatran Gentle Lemur
And others such as the Aye-Aye, Livingstones Fruit Bat, St Lucia Parrot etc. which the trust have helped to safe guard.

About Durrell not being the first zoo to pioneer captive breeding. It was certainly one of the first and the first to be based almost entirely around this concept. Besides, it doesn't matter that Durrell was not the first, it got the word out which is far more important.

On animal welfare. I would agree - Gerald Durrell was not the most sympathetic were this was concerned but that was often due to an ever increasing overdraft! All i can say is that enrichment was always high on the agenda and the habitats were often built around the animals. Also, how would they have bred so many species if the animal welfare was so bad.
 
I am sorry ... this thread is slowly degressing into some diatribe against zoos in general by one individual. I agree with most that others have written regarding Durrell or Jersey Zoo.

Now, what I find most deplorable is that a Jersey trained wildlife biologist comes out against his erstwhile educator and makes all kinds of assessments on Jersey Zoo for the brief period he stayed there. Besides to imply that Jersey's conservation work might be better allocated to mainland rainforests as opposed to island habitats, than he has not got his biodiversity hotspot theories in order! Jersey Zoo has been the prime proponent of improving conservation prospects for highly overlooked and minute islands faunas that would otherwise have gone extinct by now. To deplore the direction of Jersey is to say hell to island ecosystems.

As for the gentlemen's stance on India and more resources being poured into in situ conservation in India. India has been failing miserably in the wildlife conservation stakes ... where this concerns Project Tiger, or the Kaziranga-Assam-Bengal rhino populations ... amongst others. This despite the fact that millions of dollars of international aid have been poured into the country for their benefit.

Even now, it is failing the tiger and WII has been at the forefront of cloaking the tiger myth of 4,500+ tigers when local field ecologists were saying the Bengal tiger was in deep trouble. Similarly, poaching is on the increase in India in "relatively safe" rhino habitat in Kaziranga. The rhino population has been burgeoning at the seams here with protected habitat remaining similarly sized while populations increased from lows to high 1,800's. This so much so that every year now rhinos flee to higher unprotected ground when the flooding season is on and become even more vulnerable to poaching. Besides, law enforcement has been lax, coop with local people is virtually non-existent and has been put paid by the very management decision to no longer involve the local informer network in wildlife conflict areas.

The recent relocation of handreared rhinos from the Kaziranga close boma sanctuary to Manas is another example how ill-thought out the strategy really is. These rhinos have been reared from a very young age and are no longer suitable for direct release to the wild (previous 2 examples have been .. 1 Gorumara died and another Assam recaptured and sent to an Indian zoos) as these are too human oriented and even find it difficult to reintegrate to the wild. In this respect it is often better to translocate wild individuals from highly populised areas of rhino to Manas direct wild-to-wild. This strategy has yet to be introduced fully and only 2 wild rhinos have been added at all this year to the Manas group .... where at least 20 rhinos should have been by 2007!

I can go on and on over India with examples of other wildife like the Asian elephant, the gharial, the Asiatic lion, the lion-tailed macaque where continuously wildlife biology has failed to effectively protect wild populations.

So, to blabber on about racist Durrell and more resources being allocated to in situ conservation in India ... fine if WII and the federal states and central govt. get their act together once and for all! Get your own house in order before you complain overseas!

The central question here to me is: If the WII had been more successful to sensitise your average Indian citizen to wildlife conservation or the environment why in a country of 800-900 million people cannot more local funding be drummed up for environmental conservation and is govt. and federal states held accountable for failed wildlife conservation policies (and let me not even speak of the instances of corruption and bad governance)?

Well back to Jersey Zoo then ... but then with the real arguements! ;)
 
Different folks, different strokes. The gentleman accusing me of 'blabbering against the racist Durrell and going against my ertswhile educator' conveniently ignored the fact that I have been a member of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust since 1991. Also I wonder what he thought of leading zoo critic Stefan Ormrod who was a keeper at Jersey. It if diiffcult for a European to fully understand the basis of what DUrrell's comments against non whites imply so I do not blame him(I presume Jelle comes from hOlland).. Yes sir, I do have my bilogical knowledge in order and do recognise the importance of island ecosystems. But even then I feel it is better if they did more work in other areas including India. It is simply laughable to say that wildlife conservation is failing misreably in India. In a country with a population of over 1 billion, the conservation and animal protection ethic is second to none. The emperor Ashoka is said to be the first conservationist and this has been acknowledged by many Western conservation workers. Incidentally I did a survey of Indian zoos for Zoocheck Canada after I returned from Jersey. It is available online at http://www.zoocheck.com/Reportpdfs/Indianreport1.pdf PLease do comment on it if it is a example of myself going against my former educator.!
FRom my experience, very few zoo directors can take criticism and the defensive responses on this list only testify to that. THis is also why the zoo community and the animal welfare/rights community have never got on well together(with some notable exceptions like HOwletts Zoo and the Cornwall Monkey Sanctuary).The questions being asked of the conservation and animal welfare/rights role of zoos by animal welfare/rights organisations should be asked by the zoos themselves, but very few do.
Regarding rhino release in Assam, the organisation where I am working for, the Wildlife Trust of India is leading the effort, in my opinion it is well worth it, more so since there are no paternatlistic racist undertones involved(NO suggestion that you can't save the animals for yourselves so we have to do it for you). In fact I just wrote a summary of this release for the new year. DEtails here :
Wildlife Trust of India :: WTI, conservation,rescue,rehabilitation,protection wildlife national parks, safari,tigers,elephants,lions,leopards, and other wild animals and wildlife in India
Comments welcome.
Lastly I emphasise that I have not denied the good work of Jersey Zoo and Gerald Durrell but as I said in my first message, my ideas on zoos in general and Jersey Zoo and Gerald Durrell in particular have changed over the years. I only wish the zoo world had a few more people like David Hancocks to address the genuine criticisms rather than launch counter attacks in defence.
But I also understand that a European perspective on conservation will be radically different from an INdian one. Very few Europeans can even gauge the depth of how the sytem in INdia works, leave alone asssessing animal protection in this country.
In conclusion, I want to say that I wish Jersey ZOo and THe DUrrell WIldlife Conservation TRust al the best in their efforts to save animals around the world. iT has been nice to read all your messages and if you want to carry on ths discussion further please do write to me personally at shubhobrotoghosh@gmail.com
 
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