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We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals that Changed Their Lives Forever
by Benjamin Mee

Published: 2009-09-01
Paperback : 304 pages
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The remarkable true story of a family who move into a rundown zoo? already a BBC documentary miniseries and excerpted in The Guardian.

In the market for a house and an adventure, Benjamin Mee moved his family to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Mee had a ...
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Introduction

(The remarkable true story of a family who move into a rundown zoo? already a BBC documentary miniseries and excerpted in The Guardian.

In the market for a house and an adventure, Benjamin Mee moved his family to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Mee had a dream to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. His friends and colleagues thought he was crazy.

But in 2006, Mee and his wife with their two children, his brother, and his 76-year-old mother moved into the Dartmoor Wildlife Park. Their extended family now included: Solomon, an African lion and scourge of the local golf course; Zak, the rickety Alpha wolf, a broadly benevolent dictator clinging to power; Ronnie, a Brazilian tapir, easily capable of killing a man, but hopelessly soppy; and Sovereign, a jaguar and would-be ninja, who has devised a long term escape plan and implemented it.

Nothing was easy, given the family's lack of experience as zookeepers, and what follows is a magical exploration of the mysteries of the animal kingdom, the power of family, and the triumph of hope over tragedy. We Bought a Zoo is a profoundly moving portrait of an unforgettable family living in the most extraordinary circumstances.

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  "Zoo"by chris h. (see profile) 04/29/12

The book is a written account of a family's struggle to buy and restore a decrepit, disreputable zoo that corresponds to the film documentary of that same struggle in BEN'S ZOO. Perhaps it was because... (read more)

 
  "We Bought A Zoo"by Anna M. (see profile) 02/01/12

Most of our members liked the book. We learned about animals in captivity and their care and have a new appreciation for zoos. The writer adds humor to his experience in developing the run down zoo throught... (read more)

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