My Zoo Family

by Helen Martini (photographer), Fred Martini (photographer)

It all began one day a dozen or so years ago when Mrs. Martini's husband, head keeper of the Lion House at the Bronx Zoo, brought her a new-born lion cub and asked her to save its life. A year or so later three tiger cubs in need of a foster mother's care found refuge in the Martinis' small apartment in the Bronx. A black leopard baby followed--and Mrs. Martini was launched upon a career that was hugely to her liking.
My Zoo Family is the story of the quite extraordinary relationship between Mrs. Martini and the dozens of animals she has helped to rear: lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, gorillas, marmosets, deer and many, many more. Seen through her fond eyes, each one is a personality, as individual and fascinating as the members of any more conventional family: quick-witted Bagheera, the black leopard; Ugly, the melancholy howler monkey who required that everyone mourn with him; the clownish lion Zambezi; gentle Dolly, the deer, so affectionate and inquisitive; and lovely Dacca, one of the original tiger cubs who grew to superb maturity and regularly produces offspring which she brings to Mrs. Martini for her blessing. But although this is a story first--a chronicle of personal adventure and achievement in an odd profession--it is also a valuable footnote to scientific inquiry. For Mrs. Martini has demonstrated that even the wildest creatures, judged untamable, will respond to kindness and trust. Largely through her efforts there has been established at the Bronx Zoo a nursery which every year saves the lives of the young and valuable animals. It has been a wonderful laboratory, and the things she has observed of animal behavior and psychology, the problems of rearing wild animals in captivity, make absorbing reading.
The book also contains some 50 photographs of the Martinis working with the animals, spread on four pages together in four different places in the book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1953

Reviews

[Sigrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just recently found this book again. I got it more than 60 years ago and I can still remember reading it, and marveling at the author's handling of these wild creatures: not just the babies--though these were the ones that needed the urgent care and supervision--but the mothers, as well. We all know how ferocious most animal mothers can be when defending their young--be they wild or tamed. Sometimes the author mentioned tense situations when it was uncertain what would happen. I feared with them. After all, they were all wild and the large mamas often weighed more than the average person, especially while still carrying their cubs.

Unfortunately, I don't remember many details of the story, but I do know that Bagheera, the black leopard (which I thought all these years was a black panther) was my favorite animal, and still is.

I'm marveling a little now that I was able to read all that English by that time. We'd arrived in Canada only a few years before, and though my parents spoke English before we arrived, I knew only a few words when we came: hello, thank you, good-bye, please, etc. This book laid a firm foundation; I've been an avid reader all my life. I can remember shunning Alice in Wonderland when I received it. Going down a bunny hole gave me the creeps and I still have not read it. Maybe that was already a sign of my not liking the paranormal. I still don't, though I can handle some shape-shifting.

If a zookeeper and a woman who wants to help animals can get along with wild mothers and their cubs, why can't the peoples of the world get together and make peace, not war? Maybe that also impressed me so much all those years ago.

--An article from this book appeared in Ladies' Home Journal under the title "Mother Was Human"

[Lauren G · Rating 5 out of 5]

a rare book, and a rare gift from a rare woman. "my zoo family" was one of my mother's favorite books as a child. it's a book about a zookeeper and his wife, who took sick and/or homeless animals into their care if they would otherwise be put down or exterminated. my mother's parents gave away her copy and she had been searching for a copy for over 30 years.

it was given to me as a birthday present from a woman i held dear, ms. marilyn gay ward, the late owner of fresno's only rare/first-edition bookstore "the book stall."

she was tragically shot down in 1997 as a victim of a drive-by gang shooting. although more research into DNA evidence was supposed to ensue in 2002, as far as i can tell her anonymous killer is still at large.

i will always remember her as a kind woman who handed me many treasured items as gifts when mother and i would go into her store. most of the time she didn't charge mom for the books, she appeared to like that i was interested in rare editions of children's books and was an avid reader. i've never forgotten her kindness or her unique and bold courage to open a store selling only rare used books in a place like fresno.

[Joanne Lui · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here’s to the women who blazed a trail for themselves when there wasn’t even a spark of light. Loved this memoir of a housewife turned amateur zookeeper in the 1950s.

[Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a window into the practices and people, and even the surrounding community of the 1950’s; Bronx Zoo. The author was the first female keeper at the zoo; a male dominated role until then. Through her eyes the people and practices of the future Wildlife Conservation Society are told honestly. It is a great read for anyone interested in zoos and the personalities of the people who were once the leaders of wildlife conservation.

[Kira FlowerChild · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of a handful of books we had in my house when I was growing up. I don't know where my parents got it. I must have read this book a dozen times. My parents were not readers, so until I was old enough to earn some money of my own, I read library books, or I reread My Zoo Family. Fortunately, the story was compelling, as were the photographs.

[Robert Groover · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet book, and one that seems to have been forgotten. The author started with fostering abandoned newborn animals, but built this into some more significant relationships. She had a lot of affection, a strong sense of humor, and a real gift for building relationships with wild animals.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

ho hum, sigh. . . I don't think this book deserves a 3, and I cannot give a half star. It's poorly written, among other things. The anthropomorphism is over the top, because of the time period, I'd guess? It was written in 1953.
Another annoyance, there's no sense of time, it's like she goes to one major uproar to another. Where will we put these animals? the zoo is full! So and so animal got out, how can we ever find it again?
A man in New York City quits his job as a jeweler and gets a job in one of the City's zoos.
It starts out ok, but somewhere along the line his wife either gets hired too, (he brings home some orphans for her to raise) or she works for free, the book never explains.
Basically the couple take in baby animals that the mothers cannot or will not care for. They feed them and make them into pets where they interact with zoo visitors in the children's zoo. I don't recall that any member of the public gets bitten, but I suspect these days Zoos are heavily insured.
Apparently she also gets to manage the entire zoo and it's animals. On Page 70 she says "....when I learned that Mr. Bridges was about to depart for Africa, I wasted no time telling him about the many animals I would like. That is how I secured Josephine the young chimpanzee from French Equatorial Africa"
"In addition to the chimpanzee and the lemur, I now had in the nursery just about everything i could get my hands on, from hedge hogs to screech owls" She sounds pretty selfish to me, since she blames her addictive behavior onto not being able to have children of her own."
She brags about the fact that Dacca, a tigress, will become a mother again, mentioning that she had 20 cubs in six litters.
Soon she's begging to have the sea lions bred again, so she can have babies again to raise. Why can't the sea lions raise their own babies?

While getting Bagheera ready for yet another parade, he took the opportunity to act like he had fleas. She couldn't find any, but since he couldn't be allowed to scratch on Member's Day, she dusted him thoroughly with flea powder. I can see wanting to powder him to keep the fleas from jumping on to him, but why would he not be allowed to scratch?

Just towards the end she talks about the forced separation of the cubs from Dacca, saying she has no satisfactory answer, other than the sale of the cubs helps to provide a home for Dacca and for many other animals worthy of man's care. Someday, perhaps, she says, when man has learned to live in peace with his own kind, less money will have to be spent on destruction and there will be more for the expansion of educational institutions like the Bronx Zoo.

[Ember Moto · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a crazy wonderful life this woman lived!! they really should make a movie of this. I was fortunate enough to get a copy of this book from my local library and devoured it. After finishing this book and gushed about it so much to anyone who would listen so such that my family kindly bought me a copy for my birthday! If you are an animal love this book is a must read!

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book as a preteen ! I visited the Bronx Zoo often,- Helen Martini and her husband worked there and I was enchanted! I've carried her book (with photographs) around with every move I've made. I think my father bought it for me when I was 12.

[Lizzi Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a darling glimpse into the world of zoo keeping during the mid 1900’s. It reawakened my old childhood dream of owning a pet tiger, and working in a zoo. To read the story of a woman and her husband who actually lived that dream was just so enjoyable.

[Teresa Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book when I was younger.

[S'Rizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my very favorite books about a zoo. Loved this book in high school!! Wish I knew where to get a copy!