The Stationary Ark

From the author of the Corfu Trilogy, which inspired the Masterpiece TV series The Durrels in Corfu, a zookeeper recounts bringing his dream zoo to life.

The first word Gerald Durrell could say with any clarity was “zoo.” Animals were his passion. His early years in India were full of routine visits to the local zoo, and if his nursemaid attempted to deviate from this routine, the result was usually a tantrum.

Years later, when Durrell decided to set up the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust—which would later become the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust—he didn’t want it to be like other zoos. He didn’t want a place where animals were simply imprisoned, where parents reluctantly brought their children to get sick on ice cream. More than a place for entertainment, Durrell’s zoo needed to be a place for education, research, and conservation. But achieving his goal would force him to question if wild animals really did belong in the care of humans.

The Stationary Ark is an entertaining and thoughtful look at a career in zookeeping from the man who inspired acclaimed Masterpiece production The Durrells in Corfu, which aired on PBS.

This ebook features an illustrated biography of Gerald Durrell including rare photos from the author’s estate.