Life at the Zoo: Behind the Scenes with the Animal Doctors

Seasoned veterinarian Phillip T. Robinson shares his remarkable stories of working at the world-famous San Diego Zoo. In vivid detail he describes encounters with foulmouthed parrots, gum-chewing chimps, and stinky flamingoes, and the sometimes dangerous consequences of both human and animal interactions. He relates insider stories such as escaping the affections of a leopard who wanted to be a lap cat, training a gorilla to hold her newborn baby gently (instead of scrubbing the floor with it), operating on a semi-anesthetized elephant, and figuring out how to feed koalas in captivity, as well as why the zoo's polar bears were turning green. Robinson's wildly entertaining tales illuminate the hazards and rewards of a world in which the "natural" and "unnatural" can collide, insightfully tracing the evolution of zoos from banal menageries to important conservation institutions.

Phillip T. Robinson directed the veterinary medical program at the San Diego Zoo for ten years. He then became director of veterinary services and animal resources at the University of California, San Diego. A founding member of the board specialty of zoological medicine of the American College of Zoological Medicine and a past president of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, he has also worked on the medical problems of animals in private collections and has been on the design team for several major zoo-animal medical facilities in the United States.