Gerald Durrell

Gerald Durrell 1925-1995

Gerald was born in Jamshedpur, India, in 1925. In 1928 his family returned to England and in 1933 they went to live on the Continent (Europe). Eventually they settled on the island of Corfu, where they lived until 1939. During this time he made a special study of zoology, and kept a large number of the local wild animals as pets. In 1945 he joined the staff of the Whipsnade Park as a student keeper. In 1947 he financed, organized, and led his first animal-collecting expedition to the Cameroons. This was followed by a expeditions in 1948 and 1949, this time to British Guiana. He has also made expeditions to Paraguay, Argentina, Sierra Leone, Mauritius, Assam, Mexico, and Madagascar. In 1962 he and his wife went to New Zealand, Australia and Malaya to film a TV series, Two in the Bush. In 1959 he founded the Jersey Zoological Park, of which he is the director, and in 1964 he founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust.

Gerald published several books including:

The Overloaded Ark, The Bafut Beagles, Encounters With Animals, The Drunken Forest, Three Singles to Adventure, A Zoo in My Luggage, The Whispering Land, Menagerie Manor, Birds, Beasts and Relatives, Rosy is My Relative, Fillets of Plaice, Catch Me a Colobus, Beasts in My Belfry, The Talking Parcel, The Stationary Ark, Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons, The Garden of the Gods, The Picnic & Suchlike Pandemonium, The Aye-Aye and I, The Mockery Bird, The Fantastic Flying Journey, The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure, The Ark's Anniversary, Marrying off Mother, The Amateur Naturalist, How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist, Durrell in Russia, and My Family and Other Animals.

Sadly, Gerald died in January 1995 after an extended illness. His spirit will live on in his books, the Jersey Zoo, and in the members of The Dodo Club, The Wildlife Preservation Trust International, and now The Wild Ones.

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