After the Ark? traces the evolution of zoos from the private menageries of the ancient world to the corporatised organisations of today. Nicole Mazur examines questions of how successful are today's zoos in preserving endangered species? Do their accounting and reporting practices stand in the way of their aims? And how well do zoos deliver what zoo visitors want from the experience? The author draws on interviews with many zoo personnel, looks at how broad environmental values are affecting conservation policies, and at the challenges of co-ordinating programs both within Australia and internationally. This informative, ground-breaking study of the modern zoo will interest teachers, students and researchers right across the social and environmental sciences.

About the Author

Nicole Mazur wrote this book while a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Urban Research Program at the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University.