Gerald Durrell

Who He Was

Gerald Durrell was a British naturalist who founded a zoo on the island of Jersey in 1959 with a mission unusual for its time: breeding endangered species to save them from extinction, rather than simply displaying animals for visitors. From an early age, he was fascinated by animals, kept an enormous personal collection of pets, and eventually worked as a keeper at another zoo before deciding he wanted to build something different. His zoo became one of the first in the world built entirely around conservation breeding, successfully helping species like the pink pigeon and the Mauritius kestrel recover from the edge of extinction. Durrell also wrote bestselling books about his animal-filled childhood and his conservation work, introducing millions of readers to species most people had never heard of.

Why He Matters

Durrell helped shift the purpose of zoos from places built mainly for public entertainment to institutions capable of saving species from disappearing forever. The conservation breeding programs zoos run today, coordinating genetics across institutions to protect endangered animals, trace directly back to the model he built on Jersey. He also proved that a zoo's conservation work and its ability to connect with the public are not in competition, since his storytelling brought more attention to endangered species than most scientific papers ever could. Durrell's work reminds us that a zoo can be judged by how many species it helps survive, not just by how many visitors it draws.