Gerald M. Durrell (1925-1995)
Since it is habitual, here we will only do a brief critique about his life and work. For a more conscientious sample about the same ones it is convenient to visit the omnipresent Wikipedia. For those that you it do not know, we can move forward that it is a question of one of the most dear writers of the XXth century, both for the affectionate of his books and for the comical touch that managed to give to them. But beyond that, what really always characterized him was his emulation for the nature conservation.
He was resembling his years in the East of the India firmly associated his first visit to a local zoo, something that it marked to him deeply for the rest of his life. So much it was so the first word that he learned to say was "a zoo"...
When he was counting three years his family it moved to England after the death of his father. Young Gerry joined the school, although it was quite habitual that was feigning some illness not to help.
Eight years later, due to the scarcity of the life in London the whole family moved to Corfu (Greece) in 1935, where it remained until 1939, when they returned to England because of the beginning of the Second World War. These four years of his life are some of the best acquaintances for the big public due to his works on this period (the well-known one "My family and other animals", and his aftermath "Bugs and other relatives" y "garden of god"), which have been translated into more than thirty languages.
Thanks to the well-off position that was providing the pension of 'widowhood of his mother and to the favorable foreign exchange between the pound sterling and the drachma at that time, the family had abundant free time to enjoy the kindness of the Mediterranean climate. And Gerry Durrell did not allow to spend the opportunity. During these years it developed his capacities as observer and recollector of the wild fauna the length and breadth of all this Greek island.
One of the facets more insults for his family (and most envied by his readership) was precisely his attraction for the maintenance in captivity of any living bug that was crossing for his way. Something that further on would demonstrate to have a very concrete utility. Fruit of this love there proved some of the most entertaining scenes of these years, remembered tenderly by his readership. An important figure in this period is one of his particular tutors (young English of good family could not permitrse the luxury of not suffering the classes during all this time, for his misfortune). There talked each other of Theodore Stephanides, doctor, scientist, philosopher and poet, who caused a big impression in the personality of the young naturalist, with whom it covered the island gathering numerous specimens, with the consequent uncertainty of his family, which had hired him to give him a "serious" education.
To his return to England, Gerald Durrell was employed at an aquarium, at a shop of pets and finally at Whipsnade Zoo, achieving his biggest sleep from the infancy.
In 1947, making use of a gift - heredity programmed by his father for when it was 21 years, it initiated his first expedition of apprehension of animals to nourish the English zoos. This first trip to Cameroon was continued by many different throughout the following decades, visiting so remote and interesting areas like the British Guiana, Paraguay, Patagonia, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Sierra Leone, Mexico, Isla Mauricio, Assam, Madagascar, Russia, etc...
Undoubtedly, the expeditions remembered with more fondness went directed to Bafut, in the high grounds of Cameroon, where it knew and became a friend of the local chief Achirimbi II. The adventures happened during the different expeditions that it directed for this area lead diverse books as "The bloodhounds of Bafut" or "A zoo in my baggage". Between the problems that were destroying Gerald Durrell during these trips it was explaining porué demons these settlers blancs wanted that the native ones were delivering to them the living animals, if the logical thing is that dead persons wanted them... to eat: no? Once he was managing to convince them in this unusual fact, the problem was becoming the accommodation of the gathered specimens, which could become hundreds in some moments. Particularly complicated to resolve was this given problem the fact that they were in completely isolated areas. For it it had to resort to all kinds of packings... Finally, once lodged, the animals must be fed appropriately, which tampo was a simple area.
In any case, his methods were distant much of the habitual ones at that time between the zoos recollectors. Only it was capturing animals that were not in danger in the area and he was not also taking animals charge simply thinking about his price of sale or about his value like claim due to his beauty. That made him enter banking broken after his third expedition and even went so far as to become enemies with the superintendent of the Zoo of London. With it it achieved that no other British zoo was requesting his services.
This mishap forced him to be imaginative and decided, cheered up by his brother Lawrence (the famous author of "The quartet of Alexandria") and his wife Jacquie, to write his first book that, under the title of "The Ark sorecargada" was reporting the adventures happened during his first expedition. The book, published in 1953, was immediately successful and allowed them obener enough money for a new expedition on the following year.
To his return he wrote the bestseller "My family and other animals", about that we have already spoken above, on his stay as adolescent in Corfu. This book was published in 1956 and provided enough money to him to realize an expedition to Cameroon which target would be to generate an animals collection for its own zoo, which would be managed in a very different way to as they it were at that time. The ideas of Gerald Durrell on this matter were very clear; the zoos should not be a simple entertainment spectacle, also they should be managed like important spaces of investigation of the animal behavior and, especially, like hardware for the conservation of the biodiversity. Finally, the project took form in 1958, when they founded the Zoological garden of Jersey, which was inaugurated one year later, after completing the collection of animals with which trajerón of South America. 
Since then, the efforts of Gerald Durrell went to the development and putting in practice of his new conservationist philosophy for the handling of the fauna in captivity. The Zológico of Jersey turned into an experimentation area and allowed to reach big successes with the reproduction in captivity of numerous endangered species. Even in some cases it was possible to have been sick viable populations to his origin places. 
The development of new projects and the difficulties of managing an institution of these characteristics led Gerald Durrell to starting in 1963 the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust and in 1971 his international slope, Wildlife Preservation Trust International. The Durrell initiative provoked on the following year the beginning of the world conferences on baby in species captivity in danger like help his survival. Both foundations have changed his names at present, being respectively Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Wildlife Trust. 
From the first moment the zoo of Jersey and both foundations they turned into world leaders in projects of conservation of all kinds, so much ex-situ as in-situ. Between the species that have benefited of his help encuentral the gorilla of the low grounds of Cameroon, the lemurs of Madagascar, mauricio's pigeons, or the tamarinos of Brazil. And meanwhile, Gerald Durrell kept on writing magnificent books (completing a whole of 33) that helped to extend the conservationist call all over the world and to collect funds for the diverse conservation campaigns. And he did not hesitate to take part in diverse documentaries of the BBC and Channel 4, alone or along with his friends David Attenborough or Desmond Morris. With them it managed to reach a hearing of more than 150 million spectators. We can see an example of it in this fragment:
Finally, we can affirm that Gerald Durrell was one of the first and biggest activists in conservation of the wild fauna, going so far as to create school and developing in his entire capacity one of the props inside the conservation strategy faunística.
To end, only it stays to aim that the majority of his bibliography is edited in Castilian, although there are many qualifications descatalogados. At present, the biggest number of active qualifications is offered in pocket edition by Publishing Alliance, and all of them are entirely advisable.
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