Zoological gardens of Australia
2000, in Zoo and aquarium history: ancient animal collections to zoological gardens, ed. V. Kisling. Florida, CRC Press.
A chapter on the history of Australia’s zoos in an important international history of zoos and aquaria.
“One notable exception is the chapter on the zoos of Australian, written by Catherine de Courcy, which, because it does attempt to take a broader view of zoo history, is by some distance the most satisfying chapter in the book...”
Praise for Catherine’s contribution: in their review of Zoo and aquarium history: ancient animal collections to zoological gardens, the International Zoo News (v.48, no.3, 2001, p.188) said :
“A historian’s job is to take random stories, random events and spot the pattern which they form. Too often in this book... so much attention is paid to the individual trees that we get no real picture of the entire forest. One notable exception is the chapter on the zoos of Australian, written by Catherine de Courcy, which, because it does attempt to take a broader view of zoo history, is by some distance the most satisfying chapter in the book... She really does manage to show how and why Australia’s zoos developed as they have. Having read her chapter, one does not simply have a string of facts... but rather an understanding of Australia’s zoos and their history...”