“The world needs Durrell”.

This is what David Attenborough said about Gerald Durrell -  the author of dozens of wonderful books and the founder of the Durrell Wildlife Park. Last weekend, I went on a trip with my college to Jersey, to see this amazing place and the wildlife on the island. And after seeing it for myself, I couldn’t agree more with Sir David.

Durrell began his life in India in 1925 – here he went to his first zoo and acquired his life long love of animals. The family later moved to London after the death of his father. The only formal education Durrell ever received was at kindergarten, where teachers said that he was a hopeless pupil. Some time later, the family moved to Corfu, Greece. This is where Durrell was really able to nurture his love for nature – all of his free time was spent collecting creatures of all kinds and keeping them in his room in jars and matchboxes. The time he spent here was the basis for his book My Family and Other Animals (A brilliant book! If you haven’t already, I recommend reading it!). He was home-schooled by various friends and some private tutors, but really, it was the nature around him that seemed to educate him the most. Theodore Stephanides was a friend of one of Durrell’s tutors, but became one of his greatest friends. Being a doctor, scientist, poet and philosopher, he enjoyed examining the various fauna that Durrell collected and left a lasting impression on him.

Above: sketchbooks and photos in the museum at Durrell Wildlife Park. 

In the onset of World War II, the family moved back to England. It was a hard time for Durrell to find a job, not only as a youth, but as a home-schooled one. Unfortunately, this seems to have always been a problem -  it doesn’t matter how brilliant or intelligent you are, a piece of paper must say it too. When really, the world around you might be the best education there is. And to me, this is one of many special things about Gerald Durrell. He eventually landed a job helping in a pet shop, and later was enlisted to help on a farm in the war, as he was exempt from fighting on medical grounds. After the war, and working in Whipsnade Zoo, he left to attempt to join wildlife collecting expeditions. This was a difficult task – he was often denied due to “lack of experience”. Finally,  in 1947, his expeditions began, with a trip to Cameroon.

Because Durrell cared so greatly about conservation, his species were never over-collected and when brought back they had the best enclosures he could provide. Because of this, Durrell quickly ran out of money, and zoos and collectors blacklisted him as somebody that was useless as a collector. What they wanted was the most glamorous, rare animals and lots of them, regardless of the welfare of the animals. Really, this is when Durrell began writing books – he needed money. He had always been good at writing, and was encouraged by his brother, and his current wife, who also helped him to found Jersey Zoo.

Why did Durrell found Jersey Zoo? Oddly, it was his disgust with most zoos in general that fuelled this ambition. He believed that zoos were far too much about entertainment, and should be completely centred around conservation for endangered species. In 1958, he founded Jersey Zoological Park, using animals he had collected on his expeditions. It was opened to the public in 1959. Determined to aid conservation, he collected endangered species from around the world and housed them in the zoo, planning breeding programmes and reintroduction back in to the wild. As the zoo grew in size and popularity, he founded the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust, to help cope with the growing zoo. By the 70s, the zoo was a pioneer for conservation and was breeding species such as lowland gorillas and rare Mauritius animals. He did a lot of work in Mauritius – helping to bring back extremely threatened animals, like the Mauritius Kestrel.

Above: one of the male lowland gorillas at the park, a critically endangered species. Copyright: Lydia Miller. 

In 1978, he created the “mini-university” (or so he called it), which acted as a training centre for conservationists. In 1990, Durrell began projects in Madagascar, and began captive breeding programmes with the endemic species there, such as the aye aye.

In 1995, Durrell died of Septicaemia, aged 70. But the wonderful books he wrote and the incredible conservation trust and zoo he founded will never be lost or forgotten, and continues to thrive. The place is as brilliant as it’s ever been – I was blown away. It is now called the Durrell Wildlife Park, and houses more endangered species than ever, such as the wrinkled hornbill.  I was lucky enough to also get a behind the scenes tour of the Herpetology unit – which opened up real gems of conservation, such as rows and rows of  tanks Orange-Tailed Skinks, an incredibly rare lizard, being prepared for reintroduction.

Probably the most astonishing thing about Gerald Durrell is his beliefs were so ahead of his time, he was the first to state that:

  • The primary purpose of a zoo should be to act as a reserve of critically endangered species which need captive breeding in order to survive.
  • They can serve the secondary purposes of educating people about wildlife and natural history, and of educating biologists about the animal's habits.
  • Zoos should not be run for the purposes of entertainment only, and non-threatened species should be re-introduced into their natural habitats.
  • An animal should be present in the zoo only as a last resort, when all efforts to save it in the wild have failed.

Other than the Durrell Wildlife Park, there’s also gorgeous natural places to visit on the island. I made a special request to visit Devil’s Hole, where we saw two choughs (another idea of Durrell’s – to reintroduce these birds after they became extinct on the island 100 years ago).

Above: Me watching Choughs! Copyright: Lydia Miller. 

We also found a Common Green Lizard, which was absolutely beautiful – actually my first wild lizard. So if you ever get the chance to visit this incredible place, you won’t regret it!

 Above: The common green lizard we found! Copyright: Lydia Miller. 

Amy S