A Wilder Kingdom

This book is a provocative and reflective examination of the relationship between zoos and the wild. It gathers a premier set of multidisciplinary voices to consider the possibilities and challenges of making zoos wilder.

Greene Harry :

Harry W. Greene is an American herpetologist, currently working as a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell University. His primary conceptual interests are behavioral evolution, community ecology, and conservation biology, with a special focus on mammals, lizards, and snakes, particularly vipers.Ben A. Minteer is professor of environmental ethics and conservation in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. His many books include Wild Visions: Wilderness as Image and Idea (2022); The Fall of the Wild: Extinction, De-Extinction, and the Ethics of Conservation (Columbia, 2018); and The Ark and Beyond: The Evolution of Zoo and Aquarium Conservation (2018).

Harry W. Greene is emeritus professor at Cornell University and adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the author of Snakes: The Evolution of Mystery in Nature (1997) and Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art (2013).

Hal Herzog, author of Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard To Think Straight About Animals :
This remarkable collection of essays addresses the shifting and conflicted missions of zoos in the modern world. The central theme of the chapters is the possibility of enhancing the experience of wildness for zoo animals and visitors. Along the way, the authors address a host of fascinating questions. For example, what would a wilder zoo look like? Is a baby rhino who was conceived via in vitro fertilization a wild animal? Can zoos prepare animals for life in the wild? This book changed the way I think about zoos, and I suspect it will pave the way for the zoos of the future.

Marty Crump, coauthor of Women in Field Biology: A Journey into Nature:
A Wilder Kingdom is a thought-provoking, informative, and enjoyable read. The well-crafted essays, written by authors with a wide range of perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise, will appeal to anyone interested in nature, animal welfare, zoos, wild landscapes, and the human interactions with all of these.

Bill Adams, Claudio Segré Professor of Conservation and Development, Geneva Graduate Institute:
What are zoos for, and what should they be like? In the Anthropocene era, long-held distinctions between human and natural, managed and wild are blurring. A Wilder Kingdom asks how zoos might be reimagined to represent and support wild nature. This delightful and diverse book offers thoughtful and challenging ideas for the future of zoos in an increasingly human-dominated natural world.