30th January 1995
Conservationist Gerald Durrell dies
Gerald Durrell will be remembered as one of the greatest conservationists of his age. When he died, aged 70, his ashes were buried at the zoo he founded in Jersey. What made that zoo different was its focus, less on entertainment and ticket sales, but conservation through the careful breeding of endangered species.
His obituary in The Independent explained that “at Jersey, Durrell and his colleagues have acknowledged that this information [short stats, as found in most zoos] is interesting in itself, but have emphasised a more crucial reality, that the future of the animal on view is dependent on the choices the observer makes in the next 20 years: if you buy hardwood furniture or if you show no concern for sensible land use then this beautiful animal is going to disappear in the wild”.
A childhood abroad
Durrell’s early life on Corfu was televised in the ITV drama, The Durrells, but he had previously spent time in India, where he was born, and Britain. He finally settled in Jersey, having visited in the late 1950s, by which time he already had a significant collection of animals looking for a permanent home.
Durrell died of complications following a liver transplant, but his legacy continues, both in the zoo and its associated preservation and awareness raising activities, and in the series of humorous books that he published during his lifetime.
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Other events that occured in January
King’s saviour George Carteret dies
- George Carteret gave King Charles refuge during the Civil War. He was later a friend of the diarist Samual Pepys.
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Fire almost destroys Fort Regent
- Fort Regent was almost destroyed by fire after an oil lamp was knocked over and the paraffin it contained ignited a wooden floor.
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Murder jury passes guilty verdict
- A brother and sister stood trial, accused of murdeing the sister's husband. One was sentenced to 20 years and the other to death.
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American POWs escape from a Jersey camp
- American prisoners of war escaped from a camp in Jersey shortly before the end of the Occupation. They eventually reached France.
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