We Bought a Zoo
The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Change Their Lives Forever
When Benjamin Mee uprooted his family to move them to an unlikely new home—a dilapidated zoo with over two hundred exotic animals—his friends and colleagues thought he was crazy. Mee’s dream was to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. The grand reopening was scheduled for spring, but there was much work to be done and none of it easy for these novice zookeepers. Tigers broke loose, money was tight, the staff grew skeptical, and family tensions reached a boiling point. Then tragedy struck. Katherine, Benjamin’s wife, had a recurrence of a brain tumor, forcing Benjamin and his two young children to face the devastating loss of a wife and mother. But inspired by the memory of Katherine and the healing power of the family of animals they had grown to love, the Mees resolved to move forward. Today the zoo is a thriving success.
