Zoo Index Reader examines the relevance and effect that zoos have in shaping our gaze towards non-human animals and by extension ourselves/each other.

It offers a mixture of visual research into zoological space – in the form of an A-Z glossary – with written contributions on the history of menageries, the confinement and privatisation of land, pets, zoo architecture, the 'naturalisation' of animals, and the role of zoos and animals in the history of cinema, among many other things.

This is the first volume in the project in which the author and publisher, Terezie Štindlová, asks, 'Do we need zoos? What does a meaningful coexistence with animals look like? Why have we decided to give a balloon to an elephant?'

Terezie Štindlová, 332pp, 13cm x 22cm, illustrated paperback, 2024