The Overloaded Ark

The Overloaded Ark
First edition
Author	Gerald Durrell
Illustrator	Sabine Baur
Language	English
Genre	Biographical novel
Publisher	Faber & Faber
Publication date	1953
Media type	Print
Pages	238
ISBN	0571053718

The Overloaded Ark, first published in 1953, is the debut book by British naturalist Gerald Durrell. It is the chronicle of a six months collecting trip to the West African colony of British Cameroon - now Cameroon - (Dec 1947 - Aug 1948) - that Durrell made with the highly regarded aviculturist and ornithologist John Yealland.

Their reasons for going on the trip were twofold: "to collect and bring back alive some of the fascinating animals, birds, and reptiles that inhabit the region," and secondly, for both men to realise a long cherished dream to see Africa.

Its combination of comic exaggeration and environmental accuracy, portrayed in Durrell's light, clever prose, made it a great success. It launched Durrell's career as a writer of both non-fiction and fiction, which in turn financed his work as a zookeeper and conservationist.

The Bafut Beagles and A Zoo in My Luggage are sequels of sorts, telling of his later returns to the region.

History

Durrell had married Jacqueline Sonia Wolfenden (Jacquie Durrell), 21, a music student, on 26 February 1951. She knew that he could keep a company spellbound with his talk, and wondered why he couldn't present stories of his animal collecting to a wider audience. Durrell, having criticized a BBC radio talk about life in West Africa, sent in a fifteen-minute radio script about his trials attempting to catch a hairy frog in the Cameroons. It was his first piece of professional writing.

The BBC accepted the script, which he read, live, on the BBC Home Service the morning of Sunday 9 December 1951. The Overloaded Ark appeared in 1953.^[1]

References

↑ 'Gerald Durrell: a biography' Douglas Botting chapter eleven 'writing man'1951-1953

Gerald Durrell

Institutions associated with	Durrell Wildlife Park Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust EcoHealth Alliance Wildlife Preservation Canada Mauritian Wildlife Foundation Madagascar Fauna Group Programme for Belize World Land Trust World Conference on Breeding Endangered Species in Captivity as an Aid to their Survival

Species associations	Aye-aye Gorilla Mauritius kestrel Pink pigeon Pygmy hog Rockfowl St. Lucia parrot Volcano rabbit

Books written	The Overloaded Ark Three Singles to Adventure The Bafut Beagles The New Noah The Drunken Forest My Family and Other Animals Encounters with Animals A Zoo in My Luggage The Whispering Land Island Zoo A Look at Zoos Menagerie Manor Two in the Bush The Donkey Rustlers Rosy is My Relative Birds, Beasts, and Relatives Fillets of Plaice Catch Me a Colobus Beasts in My Belfry The Talking Parcel The Stationary Ark Golden Bats and Pink Pigeons The Garden of the Gods The Picnic and Suchlike Pandemonium The Mockery Bird Ark on the Move The Amateur Naturalist How to Shoot an Amateur Naturalist Durrell in Russia The Fantastic Flying Journey The Fantastic Dinosaur Adventure The Ark's Anniversary Keeper Toby the Tortoise Marrying Off Mother and Other Stories The Aye-Aye and I Puppy Tales The Best of Gerald Durrell

Illustrators	Ralph Thompson Edward Mortelmans Peter Barrett Graham Percy Keith West Cliff Wright

Famous TV series	Two in the Bush Catch Me a Colobus The Garden of the Gods The Stationary Ark Ark on the Move The Amateur Naturalist Ourselves and Other Animals Durrell in Russia

Durrell family	Lawrence Samuel Durrell (father) Louisa Dixie Durrell (mother) Lawrence Durrell Margaret Durrell Jacquie Durrell Lee McGeorge Durrell

Notable others	Theodore Stephanides Douglas Botting Achirimbi II

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