The next in Jamberoo CWA's popular series of Nature & Environment Talks, on tomorrow night, promises to fascinating for anyone who has wondered 'how do you make a zoo?'

David Butcher, who now lives in Jamberoo, turned an old army camp in Dubbo into the Taronga Western Plains Zoo - the first open range zoo in Australia.

 As a former chief executive of the World Wildlife Fund Australia, Greening Australia and the RSPCA (NSW), David had envisioned a zoo where people could squint their eyes and believe they were standing in Africa or Asia watching these animals in their natural habitat.

The envisioned Zoo, with 35 different animals from six countries, was constructed in 1977.

“All the enclosures really took into account the behaviour of the animals. We had thought that it should also be as much a living thing as the animals it contained, so it developed organically, in that it could be easily changed and modified over time,” David says.

“Most people will never see these types of animals in the wild and to be able to imagine that, to consider their ecosystems, was really important from an educational point of view.”

24 October, Jamberoo Youth Hall, from 7 pm.

 Admission is $5 for adults (school aged children are free) with light refreshments included. No booking required.