We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo

By Benjamin Mee

RRP $35

Synopsis

A few years ago, Ben and his wife, Katherine, sold their small flat in Primrose Hill and moved to France to pursue their dream of restoring an old barn near Nimes.

That dream then became much, much bigger for, last October, they moved with their two young children, Ben's 76 year-old mother and his brother, into a run-down zoo on the edge of Dartmoor which they had bought, and found themselves responsible for 200 animals including four huge tigers, lions, pumas, three massive bears, a tpir and a wolf pack.

Ben's new extended family now included: Solomon, an African lion and scourge of the local golf course; Zak, the rickety Alpha wolf, a broadly benevolent dictator clinging to power; Ronnie, a Brazilian tapir, easily capable of killing a man, but hopelessly soppy; and Sovereign, a jaguar who is also a would-be ninja, and has devised a long term escape plan and implemented it.

But tragedy was to strike for, in the midst of dealing with escaping wolves and jaguars, and troublesome adolescent vervet monkeys, Katherine, who had developed, and had removed, a brain tumour while in France, began to experience symptoms again.  The prognosis was poor, and so Ben found himself juggling the complexities of managing the zoo and getting it ready for re-opening, and at the same time having to care for his rapidly deteriorating wife, their two young children, and their ever growing menagerie of animals.

Ben's story will both move and entertain - charting, simultaneously, the family's attempts to improve the animals' lives, the build-up to the Zoo's official reopening, as well as Katherine's decline, her final days, and how the family went on.

About the Author

A former bricklayer and decorator, Benjamin Mee began to study and write about animal intelligence, reading psychology at UCL and then completing an MSc in Science Journalism at Imperial College.  Benjamin became a contributing editor to Men's Health magazine and a Guardian columnist, and then moved to Southern France, and began writing a book on the Evolution of Humour in man and Animals.  Then the zoo came up for sale, and everything changed.

Review

I must confess, I love reading biographies - particularly those which depict 'ordinary' people overcoming adversity, rising above the challenges life throws at them, never losing sight of their goals, and successfully turning their dreams into reality.  I adore literature which is thought provoking, entertaining and moves me on an emotional level.

We Bought a Zoo delivers all that and more with the perfect balance of wit and sensitivity throughout the pages when recounting the financial and physical challenges the family faced in acquiring the Zoo and preparing it for re-opening.  Benjamin's 'voice' is down-to-earth and optimistic even when describing the harsh realities of the devastating illness which took his wife at such a young age.

A brilliantly entertaining read, We Bought a Zoo takes the reader along the uplifting journey of a family turning their dream of a new life into reality whilst sharing some amazing insights into the running of a zoo.

Reviewed by: Franciska

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