Looking after animals is no job for a man of sedentary disposition or sluggish mind. What action should one take, for example, when chimpanzees are having a pillow fight in the spare room, a fat lady sits on the macaw and the orang-utan  enjoys being felt with the stethoscope so much she develops a phantom pregnancy so the treatment continues? Durrell also has a tale to tell of a trip to Sierra Leone to catch a Colobus and an expedition to Mexico to acquire a Volcano rabbit and a thick-billed parrot. And in true Durrell form, his odyssey is littered with hilarious mishaps and unexpected triumphs.