Episode 25: Tony Friend

We interview Tony Friend, legendary West Australian mammalogist, from his home in Albany, Australia. Tony talks about almost 40 years of work to save some of West Australia's iconic and wonderfully-named mammals including species like the Chudditch, Woylie and Dibbler. (And if you want to know what they look like you'll need to listen!) Tony talks about the rediscovery in the mid-1990s of Gilbert's Potoroo, a rabbit-sized kangaroo that was thought extinct for 100 years, that was hiding in plain sight. And he describes his role in ensuring that this, the world's rarest marsupial, survives today.Notes: you can read more here about West Australian mammalwatching. Tony mentions local mammal watcher Jimmy Lamb and his Instagram feed is also well worth a visit. You can learn about Western Australia's Western Shield program to remove foxes and cats here. Cover art: Noolbenger or Honey Possum by Rob McLean.Here is the YouTube trailer.For more information visit www.mammalwatching.com/podcastDr Charles Foley is a mammalwatcher and biologist who, together with his wife Lara, spent 30 years studying elephants in Tanzania. They now run the Tanzania Conservation Research Program at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.Jon Hall set up mammalwatching.com in 2005. Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. He has looked for mammals in over 100 countries.Produced and edited by Jon Hall & Charles Foley.