THE LIFE OF GERALD DURRELL

[Guest guest]

*GERALD DURRELL - BIOGRAPHY *

*GERALD DURRELL O.B.E.*

*7 January 1925 - 30 January 1995*

 

World famous author and naturalist Gerald Durrell founded the Durrell

Wildlife Conservation Trust out of a desire to show that things could be

done better. His mission was to save species from extinction, and the

headquarters in Jersey has evolved since its establishment in 1959 into a

site that showcases the work that Gerry's team of conservationists

tirelessly conduct to help endangered species. Today, nearly 50 years on,

almost every reputable zoo follows at least some of the principles that he

first put into practice here.

 

Born in Jamshedpur, India, the youngest of four children, Gerald Malcolm

Durrell is reported to have said " zoo " as his first intelligible word.

 

Gerry's eldest sibling by 13 years was the author Lawrence Durrell, who

later became famous for his series of novels The Alexandria Quartet. The

two other siblings were Leslie, eight years older than Gerry, and Margot,

who was five years older.

 

Following the death of the father in 1928, the family moved to England, but

in 1933, at the urging of Lawrence, decamped to the Greek island of

Corfu. Years later Gerry documented his earliest animal adventures and the

antics of his family on Corfu in his best-selling book, My Family and Other

Animals. In 1939 the threat of war forced the family to return to the U.K.,

and they settled in Bournemouth.

 

During his youth, Gerry spent his time learning as much as he could from the

animal kingdom and built up a collection of all manner of creatures,

assembling everything from minnows to woodlice, eagle owls to

scorpions. School and Gerry did not agree, and he was educated by private

tutors, who concentrated on natural history subjects, finding it much the

easiest way to hold his attention. In 1945 he became a student keeper at

the Zoological Society of London's Whipsnade Park to gain experience with a

wider variety of animals.

 

At the age of 21 he inherited £3,000 with which he financed, organised and

led his first animal collecting expedition – to the British Cameroons. For

the next ten years he travelled to many lesser known parts of the world,

acquiring animals for the major British zoological gardens.

 

During brief interludes between expeditions, Gerry launched his second

career. Encouraged by Lawrence, he began writing stories of his animal

escapades for magazines and radio broadcasts, publishing his first book, The

Overloaded Ark, in 1953. He eventually wrote 37 books, including the

best-selling The Bafut Beagles, A Zoo in My Luggage, Catch Me a Colobus, The

Stationary Ark, The Ark's Anniversary and, his final book, The Aye-aye and

I, published in 1992.

 

Gerry's unique insight into the animal kingdom and the engaging humour with

which he described his adventures made him one of the most widely read

authors of animal stories. His humorous account of his Corfu childhood, My

Family and Other Animals, has sold millions of copies worldwide and his

books have been translated into 31 languages.

 

Gerry also hosted seven television series as well as making numerous

appearances on television and radio programmes. His early years of

collecting expeditions were filmed by the BBC Natural History Unit. Later

series, including The Amateur Naturalist and Durrell in Russia, were filmed

by independent producers for Channel 4 and subsequently sold to networks and

satellite stations in over 40 countries, reaching 150 million viewers.

 

In February 1951, aged 26, Gerry married 21 year old Jaqueline

Rasen. Jacquie joined him on some of his early expeditions, and even wrote

a book of her own, Beasts in my Bed, about their travels. The couple

separated in 1976.

 

In 1959 Gerry realised his childhood dream by creating a safe place for his

animals on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. Headquartered in a

16th century manor house and surrounded by 31 acres of park and farm land,

Gerry's haven for animals was from the outset an unusual institution. He

dedicated the site to breeding endangered species as one means to ensure

their survival. Now universally acknowledged as an important weapon in the

fight to save animals from extinction, Gerry's early efforts at captive

breeding were denounced by prominent zoologists as unnecessary and

irrelevant. Since 1963, when Gerry turned his " zoo " into a charitable trust,

the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has established breeding groups of

many species of endangered mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and has

pioneered the return of their progeny to the wild.

 

Gerry's original vision encompassed more than the breeding of animals. The

Trust pioneered inter-zoo exchanges of both animals and scientific

information and forged co-operative agreements with governments for the loan

of animals and in-country collaborative programmes, especially field

research focused on solving conservation problems. The Trust established

important education programmes, from the teaching of schoolchildren at the

site in Jersey to awareness campaigns among local people in the homelands of

endangered animals.

 

Gerry also dreamed of creating a " mini-university " in Jersey, to offer

training to conservation professionals from all over the world in the

techniques he and his staff were developing. In 1977 the first 'trainee'

came to Jersey, and by 1980 a Training Officer had been appointed and the

International Training Centre (ITC) was up and running at the Les Noyers

manor house within the site grounds. To date, 1420 students from 121

countries have received training by ITC staff and put their training into

practice in their home countries. Many of the overseas conservation efforts

in which the Trust is involved today are conducted by its own

graduates. New courses have been developed to cover specialist topics, such

as conservation techniques for islands and amphibian conservation.

 

Gerry established sister organisations in the United States in 1973 and in

Canada in 1985. Wildlife Trust and Wildlife Preservation Canada now support

their own projects throughout the world.

 

For his contribution to the conservation of endangered species, Gerry

received many international honours. These included a Doctor of Humane

Letters from Yale University in 1977 and the Order of the British Empire in

1982.

 

In 1977, while on one of his many lecture tours, Gerry met Lee McGeorge, an

instructor in zoology at Duke University who was studying for a PhD. After

their marriage in 1979, they travelled the world together, visiting various

conservation projects, making television programmes, giving lectures on

conservation and collecting animals for breeding programmes in Jersey.

 

Gerald Durrell died on January 30 1995, in Jersey, aged 70. He left an

indelible mark on the conservation world and a valuable legacy for future

generations. Gerry's mission and vision continue through the tireless work

of Durrell's dedicated conservationists throughout the world.

 

*HONOURS AND HONORARY DEGREES*

 

1956 Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters

1974 Fellow of the Institute of Biology - London

1976 Diploma de Honor – Argentine Society for the Protection of Animals

1977 LHD – Doctor of Humane Letters – Yale University

1981 Officer of the Golden Ark

1982 O.B.E. – Order of the British Empire

1988 DSc. – Doctor of Science – University of Durham

1988 Richard Hooper day Medal – Academy of Natural Science, Philadelphia

1989 DSc. – Doctor of Science – University of Kent at Canterbury