![]() French explores the clash at Lowry and other zoos between a mission to conserve animals and a desire to entertain people. Nonetheless, the elephants-immensely popular with zoo-goers-were certain to boost attendance and revenue at Lowry. The author describes animal-rights groups' vehement protests to the uprooting of the elephants from their Swaziland game reserve and the legitimate concerns of many specialists that American zoos are not properly equipped to care for the animals. ![]() In the first of many sharply rendered scenes, French opens with the remarkable air-lifting of 11 wild elephants from Africa to the United States, where four of the awesome creatures served as the foundation for Lowry's planned five-acre "Safari Africa" area. Dwarfed by Busch Gardens and Disney's Animal Kingdom, Lowry was headed by CEO Lex Salisbury, an ambitious visionary with grandiose expansion plans. ![]() Petersburg Times Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter French (Journalism/Indiana Univ.) gained unusual access to zoo personnel to research this vivid account of the hidden workings of Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo during a tumultuous six-year period. An in-depth look behind the gates of an American zoo. ![]()
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