Melanie
Well-known member
Paywalled paper:
From 'abundance of emues' to a rare bird in the land: The extinction of the Tasmanian emu
Papers and Proceedings: Tasmanian Historical Research Association
Volume 64 Issue 3 (Dec 2017)
Dooley, Robert
Abstract: John Gould, the famous ornithologist, arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1838. Gould reflected on his journey and expressed his foreboding at the potential loss of the endemic emu, making the appeal, that the loss of the emu would 'be regretted by every right-minded person who claims Tasmania as his father-land'. By the time this plea was published his fears were becoming a reality - the emu was rare and potentially already extinct. The Tasmanian emu was also soon to become lost to the collective memory of most Tasmanians and as a consequence it seems little research into the Tasmanian emu from either a historical or scientific perspective has been done. However, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in the Tasmanian emu. This has been buoyed by the existence of museum specimens, evidence of Indigenous activities associated with the emu, and archival resources and early colonial reminiscences.
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=356534663061119;res=IELAPA
From 'abundance of emues' to a rare bird in the land: The extinction of the Tasmanian emu
Papers and Proceedings: Tasmanian Historical Research Association
Volume 64 Issue 3 (Dec 2017)
Dooley, Robert
Abstract: John Gould, the famous ornithologist, arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1838. Gould reflected on his journey and expressed his foreboding at the potential loss of the endemic emu, making the appeal, that the loss of the emu would 'be regretted by every right-minded person who claims Tasmania as his father-land'. By the time this plea was published his fears were becoming a reality - the emu was rare and potentially already extinct. The Tasmanian emu was also soon to become lost to the collective memory of most Tasmanians and as a consequence it seems little research into the Tasmanian emu from either a historical or scientific perspective has been done. However, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in the Tasmanian emu. This has been buoyed by the existence of museum specimens, evidence of Indigenous activities associated with the emu, and archival resources and early colonial reminiscences.
https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=356534663061119;res=IELAPA
