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Raised by the Zoo: My Life with Elephants and Other Animals
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.
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.
- GenresMemoir
320 pages, Hardcover
Published December 18, 2023
6 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 3, 2023
Wonderful book, read it in a whole afternoon :)
September 12, 2023
Arrived two days early and read in one sitting!
"No animal in human care should have a consequence of fear or pain for being in our world".
This book was heartbreaking and full of hope all at once. It really sheds light on the failings of humans towards animals, even zookeepers who thought they were doing the best at the time because they didn't know any better - and then it teaches US how we can be better.
Learning how the Zoo and it's staff educated themselves to do better, how to properly treat these animals and then educate others around the world was so uplifting.
There's not a person in the country who doesn't have a photograph of them as a child in the wishing chair at Dublin Zoo, now we'll return to the zoo as adults & know all of the hard work that's gone in behind the scenes to transform it into a very successful conservation attempt.
There'll be alot of people receiving this book from me as gifts in the near future - I loved every second of it!
"No animal in human care should have a consequence of fear or pain for being in our world".
This book was heartbreaking and full of hope all at once. It really sheds light on the failings of humans towards animals, even zookeepers who thought they were doing the best at the time because they didn't know any better - and then it teaches US how we can be better.
Learning how the Zoo and it's staff educated themselves to do better, how to properly treat these animals and then educate others around the world was so uplifting.
There's not a person in the country who doesn't have a photograph of them as a child in the wishing chair at Dublin Zoo, now we'll return to the zoo as adults & know all of the hard work that's gone in behind the scenes to transform it into a very successful conservation attempt.
There'll be alot of people receiving this book from me as gifts in the near future - I loved every second of it!
January 12, 2024
I have very much enjoyed Gerry Creighton’s bestseller ‘Raised by the Zoo’. Over the years, I have read quite a lot of ‘zoo biographies’ and each and every one brought me something, but Gerry’s story has something else entirely.
We will get to his zoo years proper in due course, but in the very first pages I was already being wound in to the story of Gerry’s childhood in Dublin (Stoneybatter and then Blanchardstown) seeking out contact with animals wherever he could: whether as the son of the elder Gerry, a highly respected keeper at Phoenix Park Zoo, being paid to walk racehorses, or watching out for badgers.
Then there was boxing! Looks like at one point we might have lost Gerry to the noble art of pugilism; rather than the equally noble art of zoo keeping.
I would almost use the words a ‘feral childhood’, but that is not right at all. Gerry clearly comes from a loving family. Then there is that cliché ‘an idyllic upbringing’ - also entirely incorrect, as at some points these were hard times financially.
There was something familiar about this character...? The literary ghost rose up of.... William the Outlaw! Gerry had Dino, his Alsatian: William had Jumble, the mongrel. They both had... escapades. They were both rebels. Richmal Crompton’s fictional creation was middle class, in the home counties and first appears in the 1920s. Gerry is real, a Dubliner and born in the 1960s.
Apart from that though....
Even a certain physical resemblance!
One of so many good things in the book is the way Gerry is so effectively in 'explaining’ the real ‘inside’ zoo world to the ‘outside’ world. There are after all an awful lot of misconceptions out there. So this is something that badly needs to done. We need ambassadors like Gerry.
First of all I was impressed by his honesty in saying over and over again some of the standards at our zoos in the past were quite unacceptable; and that there were practices in former decades that we should all be grateful to have moved away from. He quotes Alan Roocroft and Jake Veasey in particular on this issue.
Then there was the very difficult issue of the temptation to hand rear animals (especially primates) that had been rejected by their mothers.
The whole field of environmental enrichment is yet another crucial aspect of the husbandry of zoo animals that I suspect is little understood by the wider public; or the trend towards fewer species kept better and to a more focussed conservation purpose.
When I had a public affairs role for BIAZA and EAZA decades ago in championing and explaining to governments the astonishingly wide offer of zoos to society, I wish I had had ‘Raised by the Zoo’ then to send to key decision makers! It is a credit to the zoo community, and of course in particular to Dublin Zoo as led these days by Dr Christoph Schweitzer.
John Regan, Author of eco-fable ‘The Zoo’ available on Amazon UK here: https://t.ly/F2Ouc
and all Amazon distributors around the world
We will get to his zoo years proper in due course, but in the very first pages I was already being wound in to the story of Gerry’s childhood in Dublin (Stoneybatter and then Blanchardstown) seeking out contact with animals wherever he could: whether as the son of the elder Gerry, a highly respected keeper at Phoenix Park Zoo, being paid to walk racehorses, or watching out for badgers.
Then there was boxing! Looks like at one point we might have lost Gerry to the noble art of pugilism; rather than the equally noble art of zoo keeping.
I would almost use the words a ‘feral childhood’, but that is not right at all. Gerry clearly comes from a loving family. Then there is that cliché ‘an idyllic upbringing’ - also entirely incorrect, as at some points these were hard times financially.
There was something familiar about this character...? The literary ghost rose up of.... William the Outlaw! Gerry had Dino, his Alsatian: William had Jumble, the mongrel. They both had... escapades. They were both rebels. Richmal Crompton’s fictional creation was middle class, in the home counties and first appears in the 1920s. Gerry is real, a Dubliner and born in the 1960s.
Apart from that though....
Even a certain physical resemblance!
One of so many good things in the book is the way Gerry is so effectively in 'explaining’ the real ‘inside’ zoo world to the ‘outside’ world. There are after all an awful lot of misconceptions out there. So this is something that badly needs to done. We need ambassadors like Gerry.
First of all I was impressed by his honesty in saying over and over again some of the standards at our zoos in the past were quite unacceptable; and that there were practices in former decades that we should all be grateful to have moved away from. He quotes Alan Roocroft and Jake Veasey in particular on this issue.
Then there was the very difficult issue of the temptation to hand rear animals (especially primates) that had been rejected by their mothers.
The whole field of environmental enrichment is yet another crucial aspect of the husbandry of zoo animals that I suspect is little understood by the wider public; or the trend towards fewer species kept better and to a more focussed conservation purpose.
When I had a public affairs role for BIAZA and EAZA decades ago in championing and explaining to governments the astonishingly wide offer of zoos to society, I wish I had had ‘Raised by the Zoo’ then to send to key decision makers! It is a credit to the zoo community, and of course in particular to Dublin Zoo as led these days by Dr Christoph Schweitzer.
John Regan, Author of eco-fable ‘The Zoo’ available on Amazon UK here: https://t.ly/F2Ouc
and all Amazon distributors around the world
September 28, 2023
This is more than a heartwarming and witty memoir; it's also a passionate appeal to treat animals with respect, and an intelligent explanation of the role of the modern zoo. Gerry Creighton is a powerful advocate for elephants, primates and big cats who are still treated in many parts of the world as if they exist for us humans.
I bought this on the Kindle but it is worth buying in hardback as a reference book to keep forever.
I bought this on the Kindle but it is worth buying in hardback as a reference book to keep forever.
February 3, 2025
I really liked this book - it's great to get an insight into just how much work has gone into making Dublin Zoo the powerhouse it is, and you can see the passion Gerry has dripping off the words he writes! It strikes an incredibly good balance between celebrating the good that zoos can be and appreciating that zoos can and should do better and have a responsibility to improve - and it seems like Gerry has played a massive part in that, for many many zoos
September 29, 2023
My human friend read this for me (my avian eyes are designed for long-distance vision, not deciphering code on a page or screen) and I have to say I really enjoyed it. The author is human, and this is his memoir, but he crosses the species barrier in his empathy for his non-human friends. Very witty too and he's not afraid to laugh at himself - he could almost be one of us crows!
May 19, 2025
Absolute fantastic book , written with so much love and thought about animals and how we care for them in captivity, the author comes across as a very intelligent and genuine person and I was captivated with his life story and various interactions with animals throughout his life,the incident with the escaped rhino in Dublin zoo was an unbelievable escapade.Great book would recommend.
December 26, 2023
I had high expectations but this has gone beyond anything I could’ve imagined. I will be back in Dublin Zoo as soon as I can be now.
March 17, 2024
The life and career of an animal lover and elephant fanatic.
March 9, 2025
Interesting and easy read.
February 5, 2024
Fabulous book, interesting, educational and so enjoyable to read. Grew up going to the zoo in the 80s so seen the zoo grow but it was amazing to read about it and all the behind the scenes work. Have always been an animal lover and this book really made me rethink what I can do to further enrich the lives of my pets. Men like Gerry really give me hope for the future of animals living in human care and the conservation of them being reintroduced into the wild!
July 15, 2025
3.5. Quite repetitive in parts but a wholesome story
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews