A zoological adventure in Australia

At the start of the year the Grant Museum's Jack Ashby began blogging about his adventures Down Under, the result of a lengthy stint of fieldwork in 2010. His blog posts make for illuminating reading - there's nothing like seeing your own country through the eyes of an appreciative foreigner.

Over to Jack!

"From April 2010 I spent about five months undertaking several zoological field projects across Australia. I worked with government agencies, universities and NGOs on conservation and ecology studies ranging from Tasmanian devil facial tumour disease, the effect of fire, rain and introduced predators on desert ecology and how to poison cats. This series of blog posts is a delayed account  of my time in the field."

Week 1 - Poisoning Cats Pt I

Week 2 - Poisoning Cats Pt II

Week 3 - Catching Rats in the Land of the Undead

Week 4 - Sympathy for the Devil Pt I

Week 5 - Sympathy for the Devil Pt II

Week 6 & 7 - Sympathy for the Devil III

Alas, poor Cedric - devil killed by tumour

The nation's best known Tasmanian Devil has succumbed to the cancer that's devastating its species. For the past three years the devil known as Cedric has shown an unusually strong resistance to the deadly facial tumour disease.
Cedric's death is a setback to scientists hoping to develop a vaccine to stop the spread of the disease. But some observers say that was always a long shot and that other steps must be taken to save the species from extinction.

http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2999944.htm