Some people worry about my collecting of those fascinating birds and animals that they pay
to see in the zoo. One of the questions that is always asked is  51  I became an animal collector. The answer is that I have always been  52  in animals and zoos. According to my parents, the first  53  I was able to say was not the normal “mamma” or “daddy”, but the word “zoo”, which I would
54  many times until someone took me to the  55  .  56  I grew a little older, we lived in Greece
and I had a  57  number of pets, ranging from snakes to seahorses, and I  58  all my spare
time  59  the countryside in search of fresh specimens to add to my collection of  60  . Later on
I  61  for a year in the City Zoo, as a student attendant, to get experience of the large  62  , such
as lions, bears, tigers and elephants, which were not easy to keep at home. When I left, I  63  had
enough money of my own to be able to pay my first trip and I have been going regularly ever since
then. Though a collector′s job is not an  64  one and is full of sorrow, it is certainly a job which
will  65  all those who love animals.

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