Two Great Zoos

During a trip to Northern Europe with Satch and Becky Krantz, we visited two great zoos. The first was the Jersey Zoo, created by Gerald Durrell, conservationist and author of many great wildlife and autobiographical books. I first read A Zoo in My Luggage in the 8th grade. Lesley Dickie, the currect director and long-time colleague, gave us a wonderful tour. For me, this was a lifetime bucket list visit. In Stockholm we met up with Jonas Walhstom who gave us a tour of his Skansen-Akvariet, his own private zoo inside the much larger Skansen, an historic village with local wildlife. After our visit, where we hand fed lemurs and saki monkeys, Jonas took us to his country home for lunch and a visit to his other private collection that included a dozen free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs. This was a day none of us will ever forget.