I love beasts, I love them all; there is no creature, however ugly and repellent, that is not entitled to my entire sympathy. As zoological passions are governed by the same psychological laws as ordinary human passions, my passion for animals is even more ardent as it was not always rewarded. The animals did not return, in good scientific works, the sincere, tender love I bestowed upon them. Nevertheless, I hope that in the celestial realm, where zoologists and their papers are judged with leniency and without bias, that is, in the afterlife, many of my sins will be forgiven, for I have loved beasts so much… Emil RACOVIŢĂ 23 February 1900, the Sorbonne, Paris
The real chance that Romania has to shelter the most numerous populations of bears, wolves, chamois and lynxes (almost 33,800 species of animals, out of which 33,085 are invertebrate and 707 are vertebrate) is what inspired us. Aurora FABRITIUS
Two years after its admission in the EU, Romania does not have an adequate evaluation of the species of flora and fauna and of their degree of conservation.
Images, Legends, Symbols by Victor Simion was published by the Romanian Cultural Foundation in 2000 (English version by Scott Tinney)
Romanian Zoologists is excerpted from Biological and Medical Sciences in Romania by Gheorghe Brătescu and Klaus Fabritius, Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, Bucharest, 1989
