New Zoo Books

I know a number of zoo nerds who purchased this astonishing book, called Construction and Design Manual: Zoo Buildings. It's probably a mandatory required text for anyone in the zoo design business and the book is packed full of plans, blueprints and incredible images.

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Buildings-Construction-Design-Manual/dp/3869226803/ref=sr_1_8?crid=172SZKB6UKK9P&keywords=natascha+meuser&qid=1644874963&sprefix=natascha+meuser,aps,144&sr=8-8

Later this year will see the publication of a similar book based on aquarium architecture, called Construction and Design Manual: Public Aquariums

https://www.amazon.com/Public-Aquariums-Construction-Design-Manual/dp/3869227567/ref=sr_1_15?crid=172SZKB6UKK9P&keywords=natascha+meuser&qid=1644874963&sprefix=natascha+meuser,aps,144&sr=8-15
 
Last edited:
Zoo and Aquarium History: Ancient Animal Collections to Conservation Centers (Vernon S. Kisling, editor, 2022) will probably be a masterpiece. It's expensive ($130 U.S. hardcover), but there are a lot of competent writers who have contributed to the 472 pages of the Second Edition:

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Aquarium...4875975&sprefix=vernon+kisling,aps,139&sr=8-5

I own the first edition (published in 2000) and it is arguably the definitive zoo history book. It is a phenomenal reference guide for anyone interested in zoos as there are zoos analyzed from across the globe.

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Aquarium...4876057&sprefix=vernon+kisling,aps,139&sr=8-2
 
I've just come across a book on the NHBS website I haven't heard of before, and can't find on Amazon - Yellowstone and the Smithsonian, by Diane Smith, published 2017. An excerpt from the description that's most relevant to us:

"The Smithsonian Institution, itself founded in 1848, viewed the park's resources as critical to its own mission, looking to Yellowstone for specimens to augment its natural history collections, and later to stock the National Zoo. How this relationship developed around the conservation and display of American wildlife, with these two distinct organisations coming to mirror one another, is the little-known story Diane Smith tells in Yellowstone and the Smithsonian.

Even before its founding as a national park, and well before the creation of the National Park Service in 1916, the Yellowstone region served as a source of specimens for scientists centered in Washington, D.C. Tracing the Yellowstone–Washington reciprocity to the earliest government-sponsored exploration of the region, Smith provides background and context for many of the practices, such as animal transfers and captive breeding, pursued a century later by a new generation of conservation biologists. She shows how Yellowstone, through its relationship with the Smithsonian, the National Museum, and ultimately the National Zoo, helped elevate the iconic nature of representative wildlife of the American West, particularly bison."

Publisher link - Yellowstone and the Smithsonian
UK link - Yellowstone and the Smithsonian: Centers of Wildlife Conservation
 
Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned His Stripes (Kathi Diamant, 2022) is a brand-new book available via the online store of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Bieler ended up spending more than 50 years at the zoo and he was a major component in establishing the 'Wild Animal Park' in the 1970s. He retired in 2005, but still visits the zoo every week as a consultant.

Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned His Stripes
 
Visitor Magnets: Creating spellbinding zoo attractions (Dennis Nagel, Duang Kewkacha and Qing Wang, 2022) is a 146-page, independently published book that is very unusual because it is essentially a self-help book to improve one's zoo! There are chapters about telling a story via "narrative development" and a lot of suggestions on how to grow and expand an existing zoological garden.

https://www.amazon.com/Visitor-Magn...g+spellbinding+zoo+attractions,aps,103&sr=8-1
 
There's a new book out about Dickerson Park, True Tales from Dickerson Park Zoo: There's a Crocodile in the Bathtub!, by Mike Crocker.
https://www.amazon.com/True-Tales-Dickerson-Park-Zoo/dp/1735962171

The back of the book blurb mentions putting a croc in a bathtub, having a Burmese python attack, and tiger getting loose. I imagine they're trying to make the book sound exciting, but it just makes them seem incompetent :confused:
 
TinoPup said:
The back of the book blurb mentions putting a croc in a bathtub, having a Burmese python attack, and tiger getting loose. I imagine they're trying to make the book sound exciting, but it just makes them seem incompetent :confused:
Click to expand...

Escapes and attacks seem to be a common theme for many zoo books, and it does rather tend to put the zoos in seeming incompetence at times. Though at the same time I guess it makes reading the book more interesting to the average reader...
 
The Images of America book series, by Arcadia Publishing, produced 20 zoo books over the span of 16 years. I have the full set, but the last edition featured Phoenix Zoo in 2018. I was beginning to think that we'd seen the final black-and-white paperback zoo history book from the company, but I am thrilled to report that after a 4-year absence, a new book is on the horizon! Due out in August, the choice this time around is Roger Williams Park Zoo. This year is the 150th anniversary of that historic institution, making it America's 3rd oldest existing zoo.

Here is the Amazon link ($22 U.S.):

https://www.amazon.com/Roger-Williams-Park-Images-America/dp/1467108545/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2WW58IHKGP184&keywords=roger+williams+park+zoo&qid=1651724791&sprefix=roger+williams+park+zoo,aps,123&sr=8-4
 
Gardening for Gorillas (Stephen Butler, 2022) is a fascinating book written by a man who spent 37 years working at Dublin Zoo. Butler was the head gardener and curator of horticulture, and this is a book tailor made for someone in the industry such as @Zooplantman. The book is more than 360 pages and it contains a dizzying array of plant life that has been used at Dublin Zoo over the years.

A lot of the plant details went over my head, as the book is written specifically for zoo horticulturists, but I really enjoyed reading about the step-by-step process of creating lush, vibrant animal habitats. There are plenty of full colour photos sprinkled throughout the publication, often showing an exhibit in various stages of development. Butler provides an incredible backdrop to Dublin Zoo's thematic habitats of the past 20 years, including Kaziranga Forest Trail for Asian Elephants, African Savanna, Family Farm, Gorilla Rainforest, Asiatic Lions and Sumatran Tigers, Sea Lion Cove and Flamingo Lagoon, plus Orangutan Forest and many other chapters.

My copy was acquired by a friend via the Dublin Zoo giftshop and he mailed it to me in Canada, although the book can easily be ordered online by Irish residents:

Gardening for Gorillas By Stephen Butler - Dublin Zoo

For anyone outside of Ireland, here is the Gardening for Gorillas website where the book can be purchased. It's an expensive book, but I think that a handful of zoo nerds on this site would truly enjoy reading it.

https://www.gardeningforgorillas.com/
 
Last edited:
Assiniboine Park: Designing and Developing a People's Playground (Spector, 2022) is a new, 248-page book from David Spector, who is a retired historian and "former Parks Canada research manager" (according to Amazon). I'm not sure how much information about Canada's oldest existing zoo (Assiniboine Park) will be in the book, but regardless this appears to be the very first book on the subject of Winnipeg's most notable attraction and thus it looks as if it is an interesting publication.

Here is the Canadian Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.ca/Assiniboine-P...watch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1659231274&sr=1-13
 
lintworm said:
I just received this book a few days ago and it is visually stunning, though I had expected slightly more textually after the good reviews here. A big downside to me is the high amount of factual errors in the book, from typos, to wrong captions and historical errors. It is also a pity that the translation from German to English is not always smooth... It is still a great book though, especially for someone like me who has seen the vast majority of the examples used in the book in person.
Click to expand...
This book looks amazing. I just wish it wasn't so expensive.
 
snowleopard said:
Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned His Stripes (Kathi Diamant, 2022) is a brand-new book available via the online store of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Bieler ended up spending more than 50 years at the zoo and he was a major component in establishing the 'Wild Animal Park' in the 1970s. He retired in 2005, but still visits the zoo every week as a consultant.

Heart of the Zoo: How San Diego Zoo Director Chuck Bieler Earned His Stripes
Click to expand...

I bought this book when I was on vacation at the San Diego Zoo and loved it. It was a super fun and entertaining read as well as very informative. It doesn’t go very much into the science side of things since it’s more of a biography, but it’s a great read for anyone who is interested in zoo history, it really shows how zoos have evolved through the years. It has many amusing anecdotes as well. Chuck Bieler is a great guy. Some of my other favorite zoo books are:
The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation this book is basically a compilation of scientific essays and papers, but it’s very interesting and really makes you think. All of the essays are very well-written, educational, and compelling. I hope more members of the public read this because I think it would really help to advance the pro-zoo cause by showing how much conservation zoos do. Plus, it’s published by the world-renowned Marine Biology Laboratory run by UChicago.
Zoo Story by Thomas French is a pretty good book. Sometimes it can lean a bit anti-zoo which is annoying but it’s a really good, dramatic story that goes in-depth into one specific zoo. Finally, The Rhino With Glue-On Shoes is a really cute book about zoo veterinarians. And these books aren’t zoo-related, but some of my other favorite nature/animal books are A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson, Eager by Ben Goldfarb, A Sand County Almanac, Walden, In The Shadow Of Man, Don’t Shoot The Dog, and anything by James Herriot :)
 
Last edited:
snowleopard said:
Gardening for Gorillas (Stephen Butler, 2022) is a fascinating book written by a man who spent 37 years working at Dublin Zoo. Butler was the head gardener and curator of horticulture, and this is a book tailor made for someone in the industry such as @Zooplantman. The book is more than 360 pages and it contains a dizzying array of plant life that has been used at Dublin Zoo over the years.

A lot of the plant details went over my head, as the book is written specifically for zoo horticulturists, but I really enjoyed reading about the step-by-step process of creating lush, vibrant animal habitats. There are plenty of full colour photos sprinkled throughout the publication, often showing an exhibit in various stages of development. Butler provides an incredible backdrop to Dublin Zoo's thematic habitats of the past 20 years, including Kaziranga Forest Trail for Asian Elephants, African Savanna, Family Farm, Gorilla Rainforest, Asiatic Lions and Sumatran Tigers, Sea Lion Cove and Flamingo Lagoon, plus Orangutan Forest and many other chapters.

My copy was acquired by a friend via the Dublin Zoo giftshop and he mailed it to me in Canada, although the book can easily be ordered online by Irish residents:

Gardening for Gorillas By Stephen Butler - Dublin Zoo

For anyone outside of Ireland, here is the Gardening for Gorillas website where the book can be purchased. It's an expensive book, but I think that a handful of zoo nerds on this site would truly enjoy reading it.

https://www.gardeningforgorillas.com/
Click to expand...


I have just finished reading this book, following recommendations from colleagues of mine which resulted in purchasing from the zoo during my visit earlier this month. As a keeper within the industry, I must admit that horticulture (away from the obvious browse, being a hoofstock keeper) is somewhat a weakness of mine whilst at the same time, some of my favourite collections to visit are those with vast gardens to view as well as those with well worked horticultural features within the exhibits themselves. After walking around the soggy grounds, I had to admit that horticultural wise, this was an incredible setting for a zoo with their gorilla exhibit probably being my favourite that I have seen in person outside of the Bronx. Mainly due to the great array of plants, grasses and general forage for the gorillas including being able to witness a silverback up the top of a large tree. A first for me.
The author of this book as previously mentioned was head of horticulture for some 30 years and tells anecdotes as well as a brilliant inside look at the planting of many of the main attractions within the current zoo, often detailing what went wrong as well as what worked.
Some of the plant names are a little heavy for someone outside of gardening but the author does bare this on mind I feel and does his best to help the reader gain an understanding of what is being spoken about.
For me this is a book that I will most certainly reference as I carry on throughout my career and as benefitted me greatly when looking at exhibit design from a completely different view point. For those in the industry or even those interested in horticulture as well as the history of Dublin Zoo, I would highly recommend this book
 
snowleopard said:
I know a number of zoo nerds who purchased this astonishing book, called Construction and Design Manual: Zoo Buildings. It's probably a mandatory required text for anyone in the zoo design business and the book is packed full of plans, blueprints and incredible images.

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Buildings-Construction-Design-Manual/dp/3869226803/ref=sr_1_8?crid=172SZKB6UKK9P&keywords=natascha+meuser&qid=1644874963&sprefix=natascha+meuser,aps,144&sr=8-8

Later this year will see the publication of a similar book based on aquarium architecture, called Construction and Design Manual: Public Aquariums

https://www.amazon.com/Public-Aquariums-Construction-Design-Manual/dp/3869227567/ref=sr_1_15?crid=172SZKB6UKK9P&keywords=natascha+meuser&qid=1644874963&sprefix=natascha+meuser,aps,144&sr=8-15
Click to expand...

This book is now published, has anybody seen it yet?

Aquarium Buildings
 
Auckland Zoo: 100 Years, 100 Stories (Sarah Ell, Aja Pendergrast & Jane Healy, 2022) is out now and "all profits from the sale of this book go towards wildlife conservation." It is a 336-page publication celebrating the zoo's centenary.

The link below contains a little more information, as well as some page excerpts:

Auckland Zoo: 100 Years, 100 Stories

The zoo does not ship its centenary publication overseas, but Aotearoa Books does if one is willing to pay the significant shipping cost. It's very tempting...

Aotearoa Books | Rakino Publishing - Shopping Cart
 
Last edited:
Zoos 2.0: The AI-Powered Evolution of Animal Parks (Dennis Nagel, 2023) is a 55-page book about modern technology and zoos. Nagel's claim to fame is being the "zoo development specialist" at Safari World in Thailand.

Amazon.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top