Today we share a conversation with Reginald (Reg) and Margaret Bloom, who may have been the earliest professional wild animal collectors for European and American zoos. They began their career with animals in the 1940s and 50s in East Africa, specifically Kenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika, catching, collecting and transporting mammals, birds, and reptiles back to zoos in Europe and America.  He had an instinctive empathy for the needs of wild animals and birds brought into human care and one might say that these were the earliest roots for positive animal welfare.  Their contributions to the zoological world are legendary!