Gerald Durrell (1925-1995), the writer, zoo founder and pioneer of nature conservation programs was born one hundred years ago
Abstract
In the year 2025, the 100th anniversary of the birth and 30th anniversary of the death of Gerald Durrell was celebrated all around the world. In this paper first his short biography is given, then his animal collecting trips and his pioneer species conservation activities are reviewed in detail. Durrell was the first to recognize that the real purpose of zoos should not be to play a role as a simple menagerie, but their mission is to participate in the protection of rare endangered species by captive breeding. According to this call Durrell established his own private zoo on the island of Jersey, where he started conservation breeding programmes for the animals he collected himself between 1947 and 1990 on 16 expeditions to various parts of the world.
The author also describes his personal encounter with Gerald Durrell in 1989 during the First World Congress of Herpetology in Canterbury, UK. After that, the two trips of the author and his colleague, Balázs Trócsányi, are discussed to Round Island (in 1999 and 2001), a small off-shore island of Mauritius, one of the favourite localities of Durrell.
Durrell’s legacy is still flourishing through the adaptation of his innovative ideas.
References
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