Raised by the Zoo: My Life with Elephants and Other Animals

By Gerry Creighton

A lively memoir of growing up in the Dublin Zoo.

People have been enchanted by elephants for centuries. For Gerry Creighton, this fascination began at an early age; his father was a keeper at Dublin Zoo and instilled in him a love and respect for animals. Gerry followed his father and joined the zoo at 15, where he would spend the next 36 years observing, studying and caring for elephants.

Raised by the Zoo tells the story of Gerry's life in service to the many animals at Dublin Zoo - a place that holds fond memories for every family across Ireland. Filled with a lively cast of the zoo's inhabitants, including Lucy the Chimp and Upali the Elephant, it captures a pivotal period in Dublin Zoo's history and underscores the importance of environmental conservation efforts around the world.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0717197514
• ISBN13: 9780717197514
• Release Date: December 2023
• Publisher: Gill Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Behind-the-Scenes Look at Zoos from one of the greatest zoo consultants out there

Gerry is one of the most generous, compassionate human beings on this planet, and he shares that generosity and compassion with every living creature-- human or other animal. In his book chronicling his life, Gerry paints an honest portrait of where zoos WERE, where they ARE, and the future hopes he has for these sometimes controversial facilities. Zoos can be a vehicle for wildlife conservation, and one of the ways they can accomplish that is taking a page out of Gerry's book n(more figuratively than literally, but it starts by reading the book). If you love zoos, if you love animals, and if you love exciting and unique stories, then Raised by the Zoo is for you!