Photo: book cover/Brian Cassey
At age 14, Tim Husband was ex communicated from the Jehovah's Witnesses faith and animals became the focus of his world.
Shunned by his parents and church elders in Whangarei, he was taken in by the owner of a local zoo and given free board in exchange for helping out with animals.
His memoir, When Life Gives You Lemurs gives a raw account of his traumatic childhood and an early association with wildlife, encountered when his family went door knocking down country lanes.
Animals provided a new sense of family but also a vocation, working as a zookeeper and wildlife consultant travelling the world, helping failing zoos and safari parks lift their game.
He's a former senior keeper at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, and other roles include working on a billion dollar Dubai Safari project and a Safari Park in Bali.
