Zoo Vet David Taylor

David Conrad Taylor, BVMS, FRCVS, FZS (11 February 1934 – 29 January 2013), was a British veterinary surgeon. He was the first veterinary surgeon to specialise in zoo and wildlife medicine. Taylor worked with zoo and wild animals from 1957, acting as a consultant on the treatment of some of the rarest species on Earth.

Allen and Unwin published his book 'Zoo Vet. The Life of a Wildlife Vet' in 1976. I was assigned to accompany him on the promotional tour of the North of England. It was the usual round of book signing, television, radio, press conferences. The final recaption took place inside of the usual home of a great ape at Belle Vue zoo Manchester. Somewhat smelly. Surprising for the public who wandered on by. In the evening one of the best French restaurants in the United Kingdom at that time, located atop a hill somewhere between David's home town and Bury.