The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos: Past, Present & Future

I read this book as part of research I was doing on another subject (a subject other than zoos, that is), and I am very glad that I did read it, for in giving the history of zoos, the concepts behind that history, and explaining how animals react to captivity, the author has made me think about zoos in a way I never before considered. I'm now convinced that zoos exist for the pleasures of human beings, which in the case of zoos are diametrically opposed to the pleasures of the captive animals. But the author also raises the question of whether or not zoos help save endangered species, and here it's more difficult to answer Yes or No than with the previous question of whether or not zoos help the captive animals live a full and natural life. All in all, an informative, though-provoking book. I give it four stars instead of five because I feel there's some repetition, some rambling, and some side-stepping of questions. But I recommend reading it.

This is a great product. The price is good too.

I really enjoyed this book! If you have an interest in animals in general, especially wild animals we will likely only see in zoos or on TV, then this is a great read. Despite a somewhat weighty topic, the book flows well in an easy to read style, packed full of examples and anecdotes. The chapters on how zoos are progressing from the cages and bars of the past to the "natural habitat" format are extremely well presented. Also of particular interest were the sections on how animals react when confined, and how zoos are experimenting with changes in the environment to stimulate the animal's mental health, with mixed results. Overall, this is a great book, and the author has done an exceptional job at presenting the topic. It will change the way you think about zoos, and the animals that inhabit them. Buy the book if you can find it.

Croke is a journalist with a syndicated column on amimals. This book seems to have been cobbled together from some number of such columns, with the result that it is exceedingly repetitive. Indeed, I kept having to check the page numbers over the first 100 pages or so because I began to think I had read the same pages before. I had not, but I _had_ read the same information.The book suffers flaws typical of those who write under tight deadlines: it is full of poor grammar, cliches, and evidence of misunderstanding of common (but oft misunderstood) words and phrases (e.g., "quantum leap," here used to mean something like "great progress").The biggest flaw of the book, however, is also its biggest advantage: Croke relies entirely on secondary or tertiary sources, contributing nothing original save quotations from some needless and uninformative interviews. Hence, the potential reader interested in reading about zoos has only to look at Croke's (short) bibliography and choose a more likely looking (and almost certainly better) book about zoos.Not recommended.

Vicki Croke does an absolutely fabulous job of completely sucking into the zoo world. She does not take away the mystery and awe that the zoos now provide for us. She gives us a seemingly unbiased factual look at how zoos were formed, how they are becoming better for animals and people alike, and what they are moving towards. Anyone who has ever been interested in visiting zoos really need to read this book because it will completely change your zoo perspective as it has mine. Thank You Vicki for such a great book!!

Zoos are prisons ~ plain and simple, wild animal belong in the wild.