Kirkus评论
For three decades Bridges was the curator of publications for the New York Zoological Society -- the organization which founded and nurtured the Bronx Zoo. From the time it was in the planning stage, the intent was to display animals as far as possible in their natural surroundings -- and in 1895 this was a new and startling concept. Bridges recounts the history of the zoo with a curator's excessive regard for pettifogging detail, and unfortunately the emphasis is on the administration, building costs and employees, with the animals getting short shrift. Granted that the director, William T. Hornaday, an autocrat nonpareil, has a certain irascible charm, one would have preferred more about the antics of Alice the elephant, Senor Lopez the puma, and Baldy the chimp who liked to don a flowered dressing gown and dine fitting at a table with fork and knife. Besides the rather tedious discussion of animal costs and acquisitions, there are chapters on the New York Aquarium which also came under the Society's auspices and on efforts to promote the conservation of wildlife. Illustrated with maps and photographs from the zoo's fries, this is more likely to interest professionals than animal lovers. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.