Bruce Buchenholz

I just picked up Bruce Buchenholz's Doctor in the Zoo at the library today, and quickly read in in just over two hours! I'm a nut for anything about animals, and this books caught my eye today purely by a lucky chance. It was an incredibly enjoyable, if dated (it was published in the 1970s) read.

Doctor in the Zoo is basically a week in the life of the late Dr. Emil Dolensek, chief veterinarian of the New York Zoological Society. Over the course of two years, author/photographer Bruce Buchenholz followed Dr. Dolensek as he made his rounds at the Bronx Zoo, chronicling the joy and heartache that comes with working with animals.Along with information on zoo veterinary staff, the roles of curators, assistant curators, and keepers are also discussed in this quick read.

While Doctor in the Zoo is full of wonderful photography, Buchenholz also gives us amusing and sometimes heart-breaking anecdotes that capture the world of a zoo veterinarian with poignant authenticity. Included in this book are stories of the disappearing tiger, a Caesarean section for a Talipoin monkey, a six-month-old cougar escape artist, and a distinguished zoo vet chasing a sick tapir down the road while whirling a lasso around his head.

Doctor in the Zoo gives the reader a behind-the-scenes all-access pass into the world of captive animal management. Speaking briefly on the affect zoo patrons can have on animals, Buchenholz tells us of an animal who, after dying of old age, was given a necropsy (an animal autopsy) and was found to have fourteen rubber balls in its stomach. He also speaks of the measures zoos must take to prevent diseases carried by animals like dogs and cats, which are not permitted in the zoo, but can sometimes sneak in anyway. Doctors in the Zoo additionally includes some of the problems zoos can face, such as what to do with a blind gazelle, and a Kodiak grizzly bear that has killed it's mate.

I really enjoyed reading all of Doctor in the Zoo, but I must tell you that my favorite part was Buchenholz's description of that maverick of the zoo world, the reptile keeper. His portrayal of the snake keepers at the Bronx Zoo is unquestionably uproarious, and in my experience, astonishingly accurate.

Although published back in 1974, Buchenholz makes some good points that are relevant even in the climate of the modern zoo. Doctor in the Zoo was an inspiring and entertaining trip into the world of a zoo veterinarian, and I am so glad I happened upon it at the library today!… (meer)