Nick Mooney

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Nick Mooney (born 23 December 1953) is an Australian conservationist, biologist, writer, wildlife expert, and ecological educator [1] best known for his work with the Tasmanian devil. [2] In addition to efforts to learn about the diseases facing and threatening the Devil population, [3] Mooney educates area farmers about the benefits they provide. [4]

In addition to his work with the Tasmanian Devil he is also involved with government efforts related to the search for the elusive, and some believe extinct, [5] Tasmanian tiger, and [6] efforts to prevent foxes from destroying Tasmania's ecosystem. [7] In 2006 Mooney received a Local Hero award as Australian of the Year [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmania</span> State of Australia

Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 kilometres (150 miles) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated from it by the Bass Strait. The archipelago contains the southernmost point of the Australian federation. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 1000 islands. It is Australia's least populated state, with 569,825 residents as of December 2021. The state capital and largest city is Hobart, with around 40 percent of the population living in the Greater Hobart area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thylacine</span> Extinct species of carnivorous marsupial from the Australian continent

The thylacine is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasmania. It is commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger or the Tasmanian wolf. Various Aboriginal Tasmanian names have been recorded, such as coorinna, kanunnah, cab-berr-one-nen-er, loarinna, laoonana, can-nen-ner and lagunta, while kaparunina is used in Palawa kani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian devil</span> Australian carnivorous marsupial

The Tasmanian devil is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in mainland Australia, with a small breeding population. The size of a small dog, the Tasmanian devil became the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world, following the extinction of the thylacine in 1936. It is related to quolls, and distantly related to the thylacine. It is characterised by its stocky and muscular build, black fur, pungent odour, extremely loud and disturbing screech, keen sense of smell, and ferocity when feeding. The Tasmanian devil's large head and neck allow it to generate among the strongest bites per unit body mass of any extant predatory land mammal. It hunts prey and scavenges on carrion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freycinet National Park</span> Protected area in Tasmania, Australia

Freycinet National Park is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 km northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island. Founded in 1916, it is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park. Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the largest nearby town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay. Features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aboriginal Tasmanians</span> Indigenous people of the Australian island state of Tasmania

The Aboriginal Tasmanians are the Aboriginal people of the Australian island of Tasmania, located south of the mainland. For much of the 20th century, the Tasmanian Aboriginal people were widely, and erroneously, thought of as being an extinct cultural and ethnic group that had been intentionally exterminated by white settlers. Contemporary figures (2016) for the number of people of Tasmanian Aboriginal descent vary according to the criteria used to determine this identity, ranging from 6,000 to over 23,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quoll</span> Genus of marsupial mammals

Quolls are carnivorous marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. They are primarily nocturnal and spend most of the day in a den. Of the six species of quoll, four are found in Australia and two in New Guinea. Another two species are known from fossil remains in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits in Queensland. Genetic evidence indicates that quolls evolved around 15 million years ago in the Miocene, and that the ancestors of the six species had all diverged by around four million years ago. The six species vary in weight and size, from 300 g (11 oz) to 7 kg (15 lb). They have brown or black fur and pink noses. They are largely solitary, but come together for a few social interactions such as mating which occurs during the winter season. A female gives birth to up to 18 pups, of which only six survive because she only has six teats with which to feed them. They have a life span from 2 to 4 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian Greens</span> Political party in Australia

The Tasmanian Greens are a political party in Australia which developed from numerous environmental campaigns in Tasmania, including the flooding of Lake Pedder and the Franklin Dam campaign. They form a part of the Australian Greens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmania Devils Football Club (VFL)</span>

Tasmania Football Club, commonly known as the Tasmania Devils, is an Australian rules football club based in Tasmania and is owned and run by AFL Tasmania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devil facial tumour disease</span> Cancer affecting Tasmanian devils

Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) is an aggressive non-viral clonally transmissible cancer which affects Tasmanian devils, a marsupial native to Australia. DFTD was first described in 1996. In the subsequent decade the disease ravaged Tasmania's wild devils. Affected high-density populations had up to 100% mortality in 12–18 months. Between 1996 and 2015, DFTD wiped out 95% of affected populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern bettong</span> Species of marsupial

The eastern bettong, also known as the southern or Tasmanian bettong, is a small, hopping, rat-like mammal native to grassy forests of southeastern Australia and Tasmania. A member of the rat-kangaroo family (Potoroidae), it is active at night and feeds on fungi and plant roots. Like other marsupials, it carries its young in a pouch. The eastern bettong is under pressure by introduced predators and habitat loss. The subspecies on mainland Australia is extinct, but populations of the Tasmanian subspecies have been reintroduced there.

Lin Estelle Thorp is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 1999 until 2011, representing the electorate of Rumney, and serving as Minister for Human Services (2008–2010) and Minister for Education and Skills, Minister for Children, and Minister for Police and Emergency Management (2010–2011) in the Bartlett and Giddings governments. She was defeated for re-election to her state seat by independent Tony Mulder at the 2011 periodic elections, but was subsequently nominated to a casual vacancy for the Australian Senate in June 2012 caused by the resignation of Nick Sherry. She was defeated from the third position on the Tasmanian Labor Senate ticket at the 2013 federal election, and her term ended on 30 June 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern quoll</span> Species of marsupial

The eastern quoll is a medium-sized carnivorous marsupial (dasyurid), and one of six extant species of quolls. Endemic to Australia, they occur on the island state of Tasmania, but were considered extinct on the mainland after 1963. Recently, the species has been successfully reintroduced to Victoria in 2003 and to the Australian Capital Territory in 2016.

Judith Louise Jackson is an Australian former Labor Party politician, in Tasmania from 1986 to 2006. She was the first female attorney-general of Tasmania and also served as the Minister for Environment in the Tasmanian Government. During her time in parliament, she was a member of the Hobart-based seat of Denison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Hodgman</span> 45th Premier of Tasmania, Australia

William Edward Felix Hodgman is an Australian diplomat and former politician who has been the High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore since February 2021. He was the 45th Premier of Tasmania and a member for the Division of Franklin in the Tasmanian House of Assembly from the 2002 state election until his resignation in January 2020. He became premier following the 2014 state election, having been Leader of the Opposition since 2006. He was re-elected to a second term in government following victory in the 2018 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bartlett</span> 43rd Premier of Tasmania, Australia

David John Bartlett is an Australian former politician in the state of Tasmania, serving as the 43rd Premier of Tasmania from May 2008 until January 2011. He was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison from 2004 to 2011 when he retired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian rules football in Tasmania</span>

Australian rules football in Tasmania, has been played since the late 1870s and draws the largest audience for a football code in the state.

The Tasmanian AFL bid refers to several Australian rules football teams that have proposed to eventually join the Australian Football League (AFL) and the AFL Women's (AFLW). Proposals have been made on several occasions since the expansion of the Victorian Football League into an Australia-wide competition started in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmania Zoo</span> Zoo in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Tasmania Zoo is a zoo located in Launceston, in the Australian state of Tasmania. Situated on 900 acres (360 ha) of old growth native bushland, it is home to the state's largest collection of native and exotic animals. Tasmania Zoo is a member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association, working closely with all Australasian zoos, and are involved in various species management programs. Tasmania Zoo is fully accredited by the Zoo and Aquarium Association.

Red foxes pose a serious conservation problem in Australia. 2012 estimates indicate that there are more than 7.2 million red foxes and growing with a range extending throughout most of the continental mainland. The species became established in Australia through successive introductions by settlers in 1830s. Due to its rapid spread and ecological impact it has classified as one of the most damaging invasive species in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecology of Tasmania</span>

The biodiversity of Tasmania is of exceptional biological and paleoecological interest. A state of Australia, it is a large South Pacific archipelago of one large main island and a range of smaller islands. The terrain includes a variety of reefs, atolls, many small islands, and a variety of topographical and edaphic regions on the largest island, all of which promote the development of unusually concentrated biodiversity. During long periods geographically and genetically isolated, it is known for its unique flora and fauna. The region's climate is oceanic.

References

  1. John Flinn (23 January 2005). "A Devil of a Time in Tasmania". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  2. Sandra Blakeslee (31 May 2005). "In Tasmania, the Devil Now Faces Its Own Hell". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  3. "Devils Own Disease". Catalyst. ABC TV Science. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  4. Pip Courtney (29 June 2003). "Decils Provide New Business for Tassie Farmer". Landline. ABC TV. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  5. Stephanie Peatling (25 July 2005). "Extinct or Elusive? Hunting the Tasmanian Tiger". National Geographic News. National Geographic. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  6. John Flinn (23 January 2005). "Desperately Hoping to Catch as Tasmanian Tiger by the Tail". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  7. Tim Jeanes (14 November 2006). "Tas Govt Announces $56m Fox Eradication Program". The World Today. ABC. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  8. "Australian of the Year Awards – Nick Mooney". Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.