'Leo Ruickbie's impeccably-written The Impossible Zoo is a menagerie like no other, as its exotic inhabitants are fabulous in every sense of the word. So for anyone who has ever wished that dragons and unicorns were real, for anyone who believes that they are, and for anyone who peruses bestiaries with unbridled joy, this magical, mystical, and truly memorable book is definitely for you - and for me!' Dr Karl Shuker, author of A Manifestation of Monsters HERE BE DRAGONS! Here you will find the things that once made the woods wild and the nights to be feared; that made ancient map-makers write, 'Here be Dragons'. The Impossible Zoo is a biology of the supernatural - a study of the life of things that never lived. This world of mermaids and unicorns, now confined to fantasy, but once believed to exist, is a world of the imagination that still affects us today. Wonderfully illustrated throughout, it also provides sources as a guide to further study and exploration. 'For anyone who has ever wished that dragons and unicorns were real, this magical, mystical and truly memorable book is definitely for you - and for me!' Dr Karl Shuker, author of A Manifestation of Monsters 'Ruickbie's level of scholarship is impressive and he presents his conclusions with great literary skill in readable and attractive prose. The results are truly fascinating. Very highly recommended.' Revd Lionel Fanthorpe, FRSA, author and President of the Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous Phenomena

Enter a world of the unexpected when shy, musically gifted nearly 13-year old "Vibro-Mage" Toby Jinks runs away from home to join a galactic tour group and ends up at the most peculiar place in the universe...The Impossible Zoo. Toby quickly finds himself allied with a geeky Japanese girl techno-whiz named Jinn, and Vizzy the pranksterish three-eyed blue alien child, as they plunge into a thrilling and often whimsical magical adventure with the renowned sorceress Harriet Featherspoons and a cast of whacky characters including Space Pirates Raxit Jawara and Kiki Radou, as they are pulled into a deadly magical battle to save the galaxy from an ancient curse.

Maggie the rhino knows ALL about sleepovers.?You play your favorite games.You eat your favorite food.You stay up all night.?But Maggie doesn't know ALL about Daisy the zebra and Inez the oryx, the new-to-the-zoo animals coming for a visit. They don't look or sound anything like Maggie. Then there's shouting and stomping, and a sleepover starts to seem impossible! ?Can Maggie figure out what they have in common and save the sleepover or is everyone headed home??This almost totally true story is a celebration of how we can be entirely different and exactly the same.

After they find a strange monkey who only eats ink, Jake Jinks and his sister Miranda get a job at the Zoo of Impossible Animals--a top-secret facility dedicated to capturing apparently mythical and undeniably dangerous animals called "cryptids." Soon they find themselves running for their lives from some rogue cryptids and a gang of bad guys.

In the heart of a dilapidated zoo lies a secret that could change the world... Jerrell McGrew, a passionate zoologist, inherits his great-grandfather's run-down zoo and dreams of turning it into a sanctuary for endangered species. But when he discovers an ancient tome speaking of shapeshifters called "Seersuckers," Jerrell's quest for the extraordinary takes a dark turn. For generations, the McGrew family has been searching for the Seersuckers - shapeshifting creatures that blur the line between animal and myth. As Jerrell breathes new life into the struggling zoo, he unknowingly awakens a world beyond his wildest imagination. The Seersuckers, led by a cunning Alpha, manipulate the other animals, causing them to behave strangely and exhibit unknown abilities. As chaos erupts, Jerrell and his loyal team—including his veterinarian sister Lila, security chief Marcus, and wildlife photographer Natalia—find themselves in a desperate battle to regain control. With time running out and the Seersuckers growing stronger, Jerrell must uncover the secrets of the ancient tome to stop the impending invasion. Dive into this thrilling Dark Fairy Tale Fantasy where conservation meets magic, and discover that in McGrew's Zoo, the real adventure begins after the gates close.

Focusing on the Phila. Zoo's operating results for FY1992 through FY1996, this audit was performed to determine if the Zoo was operating in such a manner as to ensure that it would maintain the current level of financial independence from the City and to identify opportunities for increasing revenues and reducing costs to help foster that independence. Identifies obstacles to self-sufficiency, evaluates the job that the Zoo is doing, and presents recommendations for improvements addressed at both the Zoo and the City. Includes responses to the audit by Alexander Hoskins, Pres. of the Zoological Society of Phila., as well as the City admin.

Despite hundreds of millions of visitors each year, zoos have remained outside of the realm of philosophical analysis. This lack of theoretical examination is interesting considering the paradoxical position within which a zoo is situated, being a space of animal confinement as well as a site that provides valuable tools for species conservation, public education, and entertainment. Why Do We Go to the Zoo? argues that the zoo is a legitimate space of academic inquiry. The modes of communication taking place at the zoo that keep drawing us back time and time again beg for a careful investigation. In this book, the meaning of the zoo as communicative space is explored. This book relies on the phenomenological method from Edmund Husserl and a rhetorical approach to examine the interaction between people and animals in the zoo space. Phenomenology, the philosophy of examining the engaged everyday lived experience, is a natural method to use in the project. Despite its rich history and tradition it is interesting that there are very few books explaining “how to do” phenomenology. Why Do We Go to the Zoo? provides a detailed account of how to actually conduct a phenomenological analysis. The author spent thousands of hours in zoos watching people and animals interact as well as talking with people both formally and informally. This book asks readers to bracket their preconceptions of what goes on in the zoo and, instead, to explore the meaning of powerful zoo experiences while reminding us of the troubled history of zoos.