{"id":18641,"date":"2023-01-04T12:49:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T17:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wildlifepreservation.ca\/?page_id=18641"},"modified":"2025-07-28T10:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T15:29:25","slug":"our-founder","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wildlifepreservation.ca\/fr\/our-founder\/","title":{"rendered":"Our Founder"},"content":{"rendered":"<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-li3fnj55-91b915921a16118575b36cc72bacc698\">\n.avia-section.av-li3fnj55-91b915921a16118575b36cc72bacc698{\nbackground-color:#f8fbf4;\nbackground-image:unset;\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='mw-1000'  class='avia-section av-li3fnj55-91b915921a16118575b36cc72bacc698 main_color avia-section-no-padding avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-bg-style-scroll container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-18641'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-2w3rt5d-6eedc4219db9dd5dcdae07a29ca23bc9\">\n#top .flex_column.av-2w3rt5d-6eedc4219db9dd5dcdae07a29ca23bc9{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n.responsive #top #wrap_all .flex_column.av-2w3rt5d-6eedc4219db9dd5dcdae07a29ca23bc9{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n\n@media only screen and (max-width: 479px){ \n.flex_column.av-2w3rt5d-6eedc4219db9dd5dcdae07a29ca23bc9{\npadding:50px 50px 50px 50px;\n}\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-2w3rt5d-6eedc4219db9dd5dcdae07a29ca23bc9 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-2idm11t-3093b7941d0e689b0b5c42647195d0f2'   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h5 class=\"line-icon-orange\">Our Founder<\/h5>\n<h2>Gerald Durrell<\/h2>\n<p>As a zoologist, conservationist, traveler, writer, broadcaster, and founder of Wildlife Preservation Canada,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.durrell.org\" target=\"_new\">Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (UK).<\/a>\u00a0Gerald Durrell made an impact in the field of conservation that few others can claim.<\/p>\n<p>Gerald Durrell was born in Jamshedpur, India in 1925. When he was ten, his widowed mother took her family to live on the Greek island of Corfu where Gerry was educated by private tutors. From 1945-46 he worked at Whipsnade Zoo and then went on several animal-collecting expeditions to Cameroon, Guyana, and other countries.<\/p>\n<p>In the 1950s Gerry published his first animal stories, which became very popular and have been translated into many languages.\u00a0\u00a0<em>My Family and Other Animals<\/em>\u00a0(1956) told tales about his unconventional family and the islanders on Corfu. \u00a0In\u00a0<em>The Drunken Forest<\/em>\u00a0(1978) and\u00a0<em>Three Tickets to Adventure<\/em>\u00a0(1954) Gerry described his animal-collecting expeditions.<\/p>\n<p>Through these novels, Gerry shared his love and understanding of animals, from scorpions to aye-ayes. He helped his readers appreciate the wonderful diversity of life on this planet and realize our responsibility to preserve it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-21wk5dd-1cb79780bddd0dd84e3f076b723a7118\">\n#top .flex_column.av-21wk5dd-1cb79780bddd0dd84e3f076b723a7118{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n.responsive #top #wrap_all .flex_column.av-21wk5dd-1cb79780bddd0dd84e3f076b723a7118{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-21wk5dd-1cb79780bddd0dd84e3f076b723a7118 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_one_full  el_before_av_one_full  first flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-1tawln5-53353447d67d0700489d2c6062d68dad\">\n.avia-image-container.av-1tawln5-53353447d67d0700489d2c6062d68dad img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-1tawln5-53353447d67d0700489d2c6062d68dad .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-1tawln5-53353447d67d0700489d2c6062d68dad av-styling- avia-align-left  avia-builder-el-4  avia-builder-el-no-sibling'   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-35990 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-35990 avia_image' src='https:\/\/wildlifepreservation.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Gerald-Durrell.jpg' alt='Gerald Durrell with animals' title='Gerald-Durrell'  height=\"600\" width=\"800\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\"  \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-yxmbht-d0ef411d21ac9a156df96bac3e56b79d\">\n#top .flex_column.av-yxmbht-d0ef411d21ac9a156df96bac3e56b79d{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n.responsive #top #wrap_all .flex_column.av-yxmbht-d0ef411d21ac9a156df96bac3e56b79d{\nmargin-top:50px;\nmargin-bottom:20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-yxmbht-d0ef411d21ac9a156df96bac3e56b79d av_one_full  avia-builder-el-5  el_after_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-last  first flex_column_div  column-top-margin'     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-k93tsh-e4eb85f2b13c0f399b50df8440776303'   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>In 1959, Gerry founded the Jersey Zoo, today the headquarters of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and a training ground for conservation biologists from around the world to learn proven techniques for saving\u00a0<a class=\"glossaryLink\" href=\"https:\/\/wildlifepreservation.ca\/fr\/glossary\/endangered\/\" data-cmtooltip=\"(E) A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.\">menac\u00e9s<\/a>\u00a0species.\u00a0 With his wife, Lee, a world renowned conservationist, Gerry bred rare species for eventual return to the wild.<\/p>\n<p>Wildlife Preservation Trust Canada was founded by Gerry in 1985 and continues his lifelong work of saving endangered species through hands-on conservation techniques. On Gerry\u2019s death in 1995, the Gerald Durrell Memorial Fund was established to support graduates of the International Training Centre.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_mc_calendar":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18641","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Our Founder - Wildlife Preservation Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wildlife Preservation Canada\u2019s mission is to save animal species at risk from extinction in Canada by providing direct, hands-on care.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_CA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Our Founder - 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