Description
University of New South Wales Press, 2001. Octavo, 156 pages, paperback, colour photographs.
$40.00
Possums are familiar to many Australians, often taking up residence in our gardens and homes. It is the Common Brushtail Possum, the most abundant and widespread species, which most people know, but this is the first book devoted to describing the natural history of the ‘larger’ possums of Australia, the 13 species belonging to the Brushtail and Ringtail families, including the Greater Glider and the Cuscus.
Australian Natural History Series.
University of New South Wales Press, 2001. Octavo, 156 pages, paperback, colour photographs.
Weight | 400 g |
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Dimensions | 24 x 17.6 cm |
The red kangaroo is at the heart of Australia’s ecological identity. It is Australia’s largest terrestrial land mammal, the largest extant marsupial, and the only kangaroo truly restricted to Australia’s arid interior. Almost nothing was known about the ecology of the red kangaroo when Alan Newsome began to study it in 1957. He discovered how droughts affect reproduction, why red kangaroos favour different habitats during droughts from those after rains, and that unprecedented explosions in red kangaroo numbers were caused by changes to the landscape wrought by graziers. Most importantly, he realised the possibilities of enriching western science with Indigenous knowledge, a feat recognised today as one of the greatest achievements of his career.
First drafted in 1975 and now revised and prepared for publication by his son, The Red Kangaroo in Central Australia captures Alan’s thoughts as a young ecologist working in Central Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. It will inspire a new generation of scientists to explore Australia’s vast interior and study the extraordinary adaptations of its endemic mammals. It will also appeal to readers of other classics of Australian natural history, such as Francis Ratcliffe’s Flying Fox and Drifting Sand and Harry Frith’s The Mallee Fowl, The Bird that Builds an Incubator.
The management of kangaroos is one of the most controversial issues in Australian wildlife management today – kangaroos are ‘in plague proportions’ or ‘on the verge of extinction’ depending on whom you spoke to last. This book examines the ecology and management of kangaroos and shows how they interact with their own environment and with that shaped by sheep grazing and the wool industry. It presents the results of intensive and detailed studies of feeding behaviour, movement and habitat utilisation, body condition and population dynamics, weather and plant growth. These are then synthesised to produce a clear picture of how kangaroos cope so successfully with the climatic extremes of the arid zone, how they and the sheep jointly affect each other’s fortunes, and what the options are for the future management of kangaroos both within the national parks and on the sheep rangelands.
This comprehensive text draws together accumulated knowledge on an introduced species that once promised fur trade, but now costs a small forturne to manage.
Marsupial specialists Stephen Jackson and Karl Vernes examine our sustained fascination with kangaroos – spannning 40,000 years – that allows these engaging marsupials to be instantly recognised by people the world over. This engaging book expands on our understanding of these fascinating marsupials, describing the three types of kangaroos – kangaroos, wallabies and rat kangaroos – and their ecology, history and behaviour. It illustrates their interaction with humans and addresses the issue of how to best manage their populations.
The amazing diversity of this group of animals is revealed, ranging from tiny forest dwellers and tree kangaroos to large majestic animals living on the open plains of central Australia and the giant kangaroos that once roamed the Pleistocene landscape. The authors also investigate the natural history of kangaroos -their unique reproduction methods, intriguing behaviour, varied diet and, of course, that trademark hopping ability- all of which make them such fascinating animals.