"The happiest decade of my life" is how Mike Thomas describes his 10 years' ownership of Newquay Zoo.

Certainly, the years before he bought what was then Cornwall Animal World, in 1994, had been stressful indeed — full of personal tragedy and loss.

But under his ownership and nurturing, Newquay Zoo (first opened in 1969) became one of the country's top zoos, and is now, some years later, renowned for its ground-breaking and innovative conservation programmes, winning many major awards.

However, when Mike bought the zoo, on April 1 — Good Friday — 1994, it was an ailing tourist attraction, and in the early years it seemed it would sink under a mountain of debt.

But with a passionate concern for the welfare of the animals in his care, a dedicated staff, and help and advice from colleagues at other zoos, Mike made Newquay zoo a place he was proud of.

In his new book, Strange Things Happened on My Way to the Zoo, Mike looks back over the ups and downs of his life, recalling both laughter and tears, and gives a real insight into the enormous dedication it takes to revive an ailing business and to create a successful tourist attraction.

Born in Wales, Mike started out his long and varied career as a school teacher. Along the way he designed spiral staircases, sold brass and copper milk churns, owned and ran The Cornish Seal Sanctuary at Gweek, and became stepfather to Ben and Holly, after marrying his first wife, Jan.

However, tragically, the couple's newborn daughter Ami died just hours after Jan gave birth, and Mike found himself both registering the birth, and the death, of his daughter on the same day. He was distraught, and sadly, the couple later divorced.

To compound his unhappiness, at around that time he was also sacked from his beloved Gweek seal sanctuary. So the day he bought Cornwall Animal World, on April 1, 1994, heralded a bright new dawn indeed.

What followed was 10 years of fun and laughter, with a new business (Cornwall Animal World being renamed Newquay Zoo), a second wife (Jenny, a teacher, who gave up her job to help Mike run the zoo) and financial stability. He and Jenny, a divorced mother-of-one, whom he married in October 1994 just a few months after buying the zoo, embarked on creating a much-loved animal kingdom which educated as well as entertained thousands of visitors. But there were tears, too ...

"Operating a zoo was running a business unlike any other. It was not possible to turn off the lights, lock the gates and go home," recalls Mike in the book.

"It needed 24-hours a day, 365 days a year of care and supervision.

"For 10 years, we cared for animals, educated children, entertained visitors and looked after our community and our staff. We were also shopkeepers and cafe proprietors."

Mike recalls the early days, when they only had six staff, 36,000 visitors a year, and "a bank balance that didn't. In fact, it tilted so dramatically the wrong way that personal disaster had loomed around every corner..."

However, they overcame the difficulties and succeeded, ending up 10 years later "...with 45 staff, 250,000 visitors a year and money in the bank."

They had been, reflects Mike, "on a great adventure".

Fans of the zoo, like TV presenter Phillip Schofield, have paid tribute to Mike's efforts.

"I had no idea just how much hard work was involved in turning that limping duck of a business into the soaring eagle it became during his ownership," says Phillip.

"From broken ankles to escaping apes, from the beast of Bodmin Moor to the devastation of foot and mouth, Mike's is a story told from the heart, by a man with astonishing dedication to the animal world and the wider welfare of our planet and the people who live upon it."

Informative and entertaining, this book is a must for animal lovers, and for everyone interested in conservation and education.