Bernhard Grzimek

(1909-1987)

German zoo director and author

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Bernhard Klemens Maria Hoffbauer Pius Grzimek (24 April 1909 – 13 March 1987) was a German zoo director, zoologist, book author, editor, and animal conservationist in postwar West Germany. During the Third Reich, he served as a veterinarian in the army. After World War II, he popularized the study of animals and an interest in wildlife in Germany, acting as the public face of Frankfurt Zoo, producing a popular German magazine called Das Tier, giving radio talks and appearing on a popular television series Ein Platz für Tiere [A place for animals] in the 1950s and 60s, apart from producing a multi-volume encyclopedia on animals. He wrote another book Kein Platz für wilde Tiere [No Place for Wild Animals] (1954) which was later produced as a documentary on the problems of African wildlife. Along with his son Michael Grzimek he produced a documentary Serengeti Must Not Die which won an Oscar. He was involved in popularizing African wildlife and was involved in wildlife conservation in Africa, particularly in Serengeti. He served as a government advisor on conservation and campaigned against the use of animal furs for fashion. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym "Clemens Hoffbauer".