In Britain in the early 1960s two magazines about animals appeared from different publishers within two months. The second of these was ANIMALS with the first issue in January 1963. I covered that in my article here. The first to appear was ANIMAL LIFE in September 1962 as a monthly. It was published by City Magazines.
A problem with searching for information on or copies of a magazine called Animal Life is that there have been a number of magazines published over the years in Britain, the USA and elsewhere with that name. For example I have found one published in the early 1950s at least by St Francis Publishing Company in London. The current magazine of the RSPCA is also called Animal Life. Also adding to the confusion is Purnell’s Encyclopedia Of Animal Life Magazine sold between 1968 and 1970 in weekly parts. In the USA, an Animal Life began publication in December 1953.
We know that ANIMAL LIFE was first published in September 1962 but I have been unable to find any information on when publication ended. The latest issue I have found is No 43 of March 1966. Were there any more? There is erroneous information out there on the length of the magazine’s run. Booksellers I have found are often the source of incorrect information; one claims to be selling a complete run of the magazine with the final issue was in April 1964. The British Library shows the start date as 1962 but provides no end date for its holding. My guess is that production ended some time in 1966. It had clearly gone by 1968 because the Purnell weekly parts publication would surely not have risked confusion with a magazine on the market with the same title.
Although ANIMAL LIFE was a British magazine it clearly, to judge by the letters and queries, had wide international sales in the English-speaking world, USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, for example.
City Magazines was founded in 1955 and seems to be remembered as a publisher of comics, adult, like Blighty, as well as children’s. I have found no information on its ownership and publication of ANIMAL LIFE.
The size, style and content of ANIMAL LIFE show great similarities with the 1936-41 magazine, a joint venture of Odhams Press and the Zoological Society of London, called variously over its short life, Zoo, Zoo and Animal Magazine and, finally, Animal and Zoo Magazine.
Throughout and particularly in the early issues many of the articles were by French authors, suggesting the publisher had some arrangement with a magazine publisher in France. British and other others had few but then an increasing number of articles in each issue. Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald (1900-1981), a well-known author on country matters, arrived on the scene in March 1963 to answer queries and correspondence from readers; he had an article in the magazine a few months earlier. There is no indication that I have been able to find on who edited the magazine.
City Magazines recruited four patrons, all well-known in Britain, particularly to television viewers, at the time:
Aubrey Buxton (later Baron Buxton of Alsa, 1918 –2009), a director of Anglia television and founder of the television series Survival which more than made the BBC run for its money.
Bernhard Grzimek (1909 –1987) was director of Frankfurt Zoo and well-known for his work with his son, Michael, in the Serengeti and the film Serengeti Shall Not Die of 1959. His son was killed in a plane he was flying in the same year.
Guy Mountfort (1905-2003) was a well-known amateur ornithologist, author (A Field Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe) and conservationist. We was one of the founders of the World Wildlife Fund in 1961.
Reginald Greed (1906-1974) was director of Bristol Zoo.
The Patrons provided articles from time to time.
Some of the articles have historical interest and I will touch on a few in further articles, including a latter I remembered having written but had never seen in print. Zoo historians can find useful snippets of information there—and the advertisements are worth a look. The new Ford Consul Classic 1½ litre for £722.17.9d tax paid.
Buying both ANIMALS (then weekly) and ANIMAL LIFE (monthly) was not cheap: at today’s prices nearly £13 per month.
Does anybody have more information on ANIMAL LIFE magazine, particularly anything after March 1966?
UPDATED 17 October 2024
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