Quest in Paradise

Zoo Quest in Paradise describes David Attenborough’s two remarkable expeditions to the South Seas and New Guinea to meet local people and encounter exotic birds. Setting out from the Wahgi Valley and trekking for days along the narrow jungle path into the Jimi Valley, he encounters stone-axe makers, richly adorned tribesmen, and achieves the main objective: watching the fabled dance of the birds of paradise.

The Zoo Quest series details David Attenborough’s early expeditions, setting him on his path as the world’s most widely viewed documentarian of natural history and a much-loved British national treasure. As part of the ground-breaking 1954 BBC television series developed in association with London Zoo, which would form the basis for the documentary work that would later propel him to global acclaim, the Zoo Quest books present Attenborough’s earliest accounts of expeditions to far-flung regions in Latin America, Asia, and Oceania.

In this collection, you will read a young Attenborough as he traverses distant lands, meets local peoples, and of course as he comes into contact with all manner of wildlife. To read Zoo Quest is to catch a glimpse of how the world’s foremost conservationist began his career. The books display his characteristic charm and concern for all things natural, offering the reader not only a greater appreciation for and understanding of Attenborough, but also of nature and the world.