Not-So-Wild Animals I Have Known

by Jack L. Throp, Retired Zoo Director

Read a sample story by clicking HERE.

Not-So-Wild Animals I Have Known

ISBN-13: 978-1-60364-008-4
Trade paperback

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Recent article in The Birmingham News:

A gorilla stares intently from a portrait in Jack Throp's basement, its searching eyes a window to its soul. Paintings, sculptures and masks, most animal-themed, adorn the Mountain Brook home where he and Dorothea, his wife of 59 years, have lived for 21 years.

All Throp originals, they hint at a remarkable career that started as a saddlemaker in Arizona and led to an association with a well-known Disney film and zoo directorships in Honolulu, Sydney and Birmingham. read the rest of the article here...

"Warning: reading this book may inspire you to visit your local zoo!"

Dr. Jodi Sexton, Veterinarian

Jack Throp has pursued a life-long career of working with wild animals, birds and reptiles. He is a retired Zoo Director and presently lives in Birmingham, Alabama where he still follows his interest as an ardent volunteer in the Birmingham Zoo. His years of work with animals, along with his knack for observing both animals and people, has supplied him with a rich assortment of amusing, entertaining and enlightening stories. In Not-So-Wild Animals I Have Known, Jack gives us insights into both animal and human behavior with delightful true stories from his experience working with his friends on both sides of the fence.

What People Are Saying...

"For animal lovers such as myself, it's always fun to learn about the behind-the-scenes life at various zoos, and in Not-So-Wild Animals I Have Known, retired Zoo Director Jack Throp serves up a delicious dish of Tasmanian Devils, koalas, camels, cheetahs, and some very odd wombats. Reading about the antics of these animals is a real treat, especially when Throp takes us nose-close to the action."

Betty Webb
Author of The Anteater of Death and
Desert Cut: A Lena Jones Mystery

"Authors are often charged to 'write what you know:' Jack does so with love and compassion, chronicling his forty-plus years in the zoo profession."

William Foster, DVM
CEO, Birmingham Zoo