Today, January 7 is the birthday of British zoologist and
writer, Gerald Durrell who was born in Jamshedpur, India in
1925. Durrell loved animals from an early age and to the
distress of his mother, brought many specimens home. He became
interested in rare and endangered animals and his dream was to
one day open his own zoo. At the suggestion of his brother,
novelist Lawrence Durrell, he began to write of his adventures
to many parts of the world to collect animals so that he could
finance his projects. In 1953, he published his first book, The
Overloaded Ark, which was a great success. He went on to write
over 30 more books and was eventually able to open his own zoo
on the Jersey Islands. The zoo led to the development of the the
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, an organization whose
mission is to save endangered animals from extinction. In a
letter he wrote to seal in a time capsule, he says: "We hope
that there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide
you and butterflies in hedges and forest