Zoo Story: Life In The Garden Of Captives By Thomas French

I’ve always felt conflicted about zoos. On the one hand, I enjoy seeing the animals up close and personal. On the other hand, I always feel guilty. No matter how big or “friendly” their habitat, I still feel a bit melancholy when I see magnificent wild animals living their lives in such an unnatural way. Then I try to make myself feel better by telling myself that they might be better off in a zoo–safe from poachers and other dangers found in the wild. In short, like many others, I have a love/hate relationship with zoos. So when I saw journalist Thomas French’s book, Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives, that purported to give an inside look at Tampas’ Lowry Park Zoo, I snapped it up immediately.

In addition to my curiosity about the inner workings of a zoo, I was also drawn to this book because we visited Lowry Park Zoo several times, and I always enjoy reading about places I’ve been to in real life. I was able to picture many of the places he described–and remember watching the baby elephant whose conception and birth is described in the book.

This book tells many stories–including the rise and fall of the zoo’s controversial CEO Lex Salisbury to the reign and tragic ends of the zoo’s “king” and “queen” (Herman the Orangutan and Enshalla the Tiger). The book opens with the transport of a group of elephants from Swaziland, Africa to Florida. Using the acquisition and journey of the elephants to highlight some of the issues and controversies surrounding zoos, French highlights the reasons why so many of us are conflicted about zoos. He tells how the elephants are losing their native habitat through their own voracious appetites and why this perilous journey might be their best hope of survival, yet he contrasts this with the way the zoo markets the elephants and may not really have their best interests at heart. In addition, French’s account of the death of a young Lowry Park zookeeper at the hands of a captive elephant gives the reader pause about whether keeping wild animals in a zoo is really the best decision for all involved.

The story that French is trying to tell is complex, and I think that both helps and hurts the book. On one hand, the reader gets to view the zoo from many different perspectives. We meet various keepers, the animals, and the zoo’s management. We get a glimpse of how a modern zoo must balance financial health, conservation efforts, and the well-being of the animals. In the case of Lowry Park Zoo, we also get an insider’s look at the controversy surrounding Lex Salisbury, who was both loved and reviled within the zoo. On the other hand, juggling so many different stories means that none of them get enough attention. I often found myself getting caught up in a particular story line and then being disappointed when I didn’t get more depth or follow-up. French has a wealth of material, and I wished he had written a longer book. Too often, I felt like the individual stories were given short shrift.

Despite that, I found the book to be interesting and eye-opening. Although it did little to help me settle my own misgivings about zoos in general, the book provided me with lots of food for thought. If you’re interested in learning more about zoos, I think this book does a good job highlighting their pros and cons. (And it would be a great Z book if you are doing the A to Z Title Challenge.) A word of caution though: If you are reading this book mostly because you are interested in animals, you might be disappointed. Although French takes the time to discuss various animals, he spends considerably more time on the various political machinations that affected the zoo during Salisbury’s stewardship.

Before I delve into the book, I will state that I chose this book because I am an aspiring vet and really was looking for book that would speak to the components of Conservation w.r.t. Zoo life- The animals where they came from, their care and a delightful anecdote along the way would have been appreciated. Needless to say, Zoo Story- Life in the Garden of Captives, surpassed my greatest expectations

This book is completely amazing. It really gives you more than just a mundane and surface description of the animals one finds at the Lowry Park Zoo. It delves into the very complex interplay of animal (humans included) psychology and behaviour. The writer skilfully juggles back and forth between the histories and lives of the animals and the humans that are part of their lives. This creates for continued refreshing of interests in the individuals and animals’ lives. As soon as you think you can get tired of one life/ animal the writer throws another at you. But further to that, It really gives the reader a sense of “real time” unfolding.- Life never occurs in a vacuum.

This book really brings to bear that as humans, we are not as different from the rest of the animal kingdom as we like to think. Our social hierarchy, our quest for power, love care identity and belonging

This book wins me over because 1-it is ripe with knowledge (apparently Elephant Urine is corrosive enough to eat through metal) 2-It is as much a human story as it is an “animal” story and as such one does not have to be an animal enthusiast to feel connected to what unfolds.

Kudos to the author- to say it was skilfully put together would be a woeful understatement.

The words of Tom French that I HAVEN’T READ can be counted on both hands. Again, this book does not disappoint. Even in his detailed and shocking UNANSWERED CRIES, I could not tell if Tom considered the convicted killer of Karen Gregory in the small town of Gulfport, FL, guilty or not. (I even asked him and he said he’d not made up his mind in spite of his following the trial and interviewing hundreds of people.) Objectivity–not always easy for a feature writer–should be his middle name. With the depth of his research, the “AC360” style of considering all sides of issues places this book in the category of “must reads.” When I taught journalism and Honors Composition at St. Petersburg College and Tom was still writing for the St. Petersburg Times, he would honor my classes with visits and informal discussions, tempered with his casual, “Don’t look at me as a Pulitzer Prize winner” attitude, convincing students that the best writing was spawned by the research, the detail (“Get the dog’s name”), and the standing back from the issues so carefully outlined in his writing. AND his writing is fun to read–non-fiction works that read with the page-turning quality of the best novels. Also important here (though not obviously screaming from each page) is the understanding of a father, a parent caught between sharing with his children animals they would either never see or never see again and the reflection he mirrors from the telling eyes of animals in captivity. Give the book as a gift (I did) to those who explore all sides of issues and are left to their own devices to agree or disagree. Tom, I miss you, but I hear you on every page of this profound book.

Really interesting look at the dichotomy of zoo’s – their role in saving and caring for species and educating the public (often by dedicated and underpaid staff) on the one hand, and the need to raise funds and entertain on the other. An enjoyable read but also made me think.