Born to Be Wild

An investigation into how zoos fail to protect the animals they work to save.

Few places on Earth force us to reckon with the power we wield over the natural world quite like the modern zoo. Yet, for all our handwringing over the Anthropocene, and at a time of unprecedented concern for animals, the zoo has mostly avoided serious inquiry—until now.

In Born to Be Wild, former zoologist and bestselling journalist Andrew Westoll takes readers behind the scenes at some of the most iconic zoological parks, introducing a cast of extraordinary animals and journeying deep into the wild, on a quest to unearth a new understanding of the modern zoo. The result is an expedition to the heart of our troubled relationship with the animal kingdom, a timely consideration of the many paradoxes posed by the Sixth Extinction, and a moving meditation on what it means to be a parent whose child is in love with a vanishing wild.

Born to Be Wild powerfully illustrates how zoos struggle every day to balance our love for the wild with our need to control it. Exploring familiar stories such as the shooting of Harambe the gorilla in Cincinnati to the Supreme court case of Happy the elephant, Westoll highlights how zoos are failing the animals they are meant to protect while investigating what could be done differently. An essential read for animal lovers questioning their responsibility in wildlife interactions.