Zdeněk Veselovský (26 August 1928 – 24 November 2006) was one of the most important Czechzoologists of the 20th century, founder of Czech ethology, director of the Prague Zoo (1959-1988) and the president of the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (1971-1975) (renamed in 2000 to World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) He was born in Jaroměř and died in 2006, aged 78, in Prague.[1] In November 2008, he received the Minister of the Environment Award in memoriam "for his lifelong work in the field of zoology and ethology and for his admirable activity in activities involved in the conservation of animal species and the promotion of zoos as educational institutions."[2]
Early life
Zdeněk Veselovský was born in Jaroměř on August 26, 1928, after graduating from the Faculty of Science of Charles University in Prague, he worked here in 1952–1959 as a university assistant. While still a university student, he worked for a year as a zoological assistant to the then director Cyril Purkyně, and in 1959 he was appointed director. He was a student of the later Nobel Prize winner Konrad Lorenz.[2]
Career
In 1964 he was elected Secretary-General of this organization of the International Union of Directors of Zoological Gardens (IUDZG). He served as a vice president from 1967 to 1971 and as a president from 1971 to 1975. He served as a director of the Prague Zoo until 1988.
He later became a professor of zoology at the Faculty of Biology of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, where he lectured until his death in 2006. He also lectured externally at the department of zoology of the Faculty of Science at Charles University.[2]
Publications
The Hunter Farms on the Water, SZN, 1954
Animal World. Part I, Mammals, SNDK, 1960 - together with Jan Hanzák
Ancient Animals, Mladá fronta, 1964
Trip to the Tertiary, Mladá fronta, 1969; 2nd extended and revised edition, 1986
Prague Zoo: Can You Look at Animals ?, Prague: Zoological Garden, 1971
It's Just Animals !, Mladá fronta, 1974
Voices of the Jungle, Orbis, 1976
Elephants and Their Relatives, SZN, 1977
Everyday day at the Prague Zoo, Albatros, 1983
Penguins, SZN, 1984
Birds and Water, Academia, 1987
To the Springs of the Orinoco, Panorama, 1988
Chimpanzee, Panorama, 1991, ISBN 80-7038-081-0 Do
We Behave Like Animals ?, Panorama, 1992, ISBN 80-7038-240-6
Lynx, Panorama, Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, 1992, ISBN
80-7038-294 -5
Conquest of Troy or Not Only Elephants Have a Memory, ISV, 1995, ISBN 80-85866-10-2
Tiger, Aventinum, 1997, ISBN 80-7151-018-1
Animal Kingdom, Aventinum, 1998, ISBN 80-7151-071- 8
Otter, Aventinum, Třeboň Otter Foundation, 1998, ISBN 80-7151-063-7
Man and Animal, Academia, 2000, ISBN 80-200-0756-3
General Ornithology, Academia, 2001, ISBN 80-200-0857- 8
Ethology. Animal Behavior Biology., Academia, 2005, ISBN 80-200-1331-8
