I managed to have a brief* flick through this in ZSL library yesterday.
Whilst the book looks good (i.e. well produced/presented, hardback format) it otherwise confirms my expectations about it's shortcomings. The "reviews" have generally been reduced down to two pages (I think "dogs allowed" information may have been dropped**) which means the maps are reduced is size further than previous. The inclusion of the maps seems a missed opportunity given some merely showed a layout with no indication of what animals were held and where (one had numbers all over it but no key -what's the point of that?
).
My biggest concern from viewing a few maps are that a number I viewed were considerably out of date -Twycross showed Giraffes at their old location (five years ago?) and Chester's omitted Islands. Following on from this I wonder how much of the text has been updated relating to the zoos featured in previous additions. Even if some text has been updated this issue does make the whole thing seem a bit "slap dash".
*Distracted by better options of conversations with other zoo enthusiasts and a small Thylacine exhibition.
**Don't shoot the messenger.
Whilst the book looks good (i.e. well produced/presented, hardback format) it otherwise confirms my expectations about it's shortcomings. The "reviews" have generally been reduced down to two pages (I think "dogs allowed" information may have been dropped**) which means the maps are reduced is size further than previous. The inclusion of the maps seems a missed opportunity given some merely showed a layout with no indication of what animals were held and where (one had numbers all over it but no key -what's the point of that?
).My biggest concern from viewing a few maps are that a number I viewed were considerably out of date -Twycross showed Giraffes at their old location (five years ago?) and Chester's omitted Islands. Following on from this I wonder how much of the text has been updated relating to the zoos featured in previous additions. Even if some text has been updated this issue does make the whole thing seem a bit "slap dash".
*Distracted by better options of conversations with other zoo enthusiasts and a small Thylacine exhibition.
**Don't shoot the messenger.
