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The Vanishing Wild: Australian Wildlife and the Fight Against Extinction
‘I’m listening for a ghost. Bright green and yellow, with a tail striped like a bumble-bee, it crouches in wait as the sun sinks below the escarpment...’
Australia is a country celebrated for its wildlife, yet native species are in crisis. In the last 200 years, Australia has lost more biodiversity than any other developed nation.
In this book, award-winning science writer Justine E. Hausheer encounters pygmy possums that live high in the Snowy Mountains, hears the booming calls of bitterns from their adopted home in the Riverina’s rice fields, crouches after dark in the spinifex grasslands listening for the elusive night parrot and meets adorable fat-tailed dunnarts who might hold the answers to reviving the Tasmanian tiger.
The Vanishing Wild immerses us in the harsh reality of the extinction crisis – and shows us the future of conservation and what can be done to save Australia’s native species.
Australia is a country celebrated for its wildlife, yet native species are in crisis. In the last 200 years, Australia has lost more biodiversity than any other developed nation.
In this book, award-winning science writer Justine E. Hausheer encounters pygmy possums that live high in the Snowy Mountains, hears the booming calls of bitterns from their adopted home in the Riverina’s rice fields, crouches after dark in the spinifex grasslands listening for the elusive night parrot and meets adorable fat-tailed dunnarts who might hold the answers to reviving the Tasmanian tiger.
The Vanishing Wild immerses us in the harsh reality of the extinction crisis – and shows us the future of conservation and what can be done to save Australia’s native species.
332 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 10, 2026
I haven’t read a book about conservation this compelling since Resurrection Science. Hausheer really gets at the value of going to places herself, meeting the people, and doing the work. Her focus is not introspective in a way that evades the reader. From the astronomically unlikely rediscovery of the dwarf blue tongue lizard to the resilience of the platypus, Hausheer puts us in the shoes of the people trying to save these animals, often by wearing them herself.
The balance between the science and the personal is hard to strike. Often these sorts of books lean far too hard on a personal monologue or narration, without leaving enough room for the actual subject to be enrapturing. The opposite, too dry and textbookish, can be a risk in the other direction (though I’m personally much more resilient to this flaw than the alternate). Here Hausheer threads the needle.
Throughout the book, she captures the complexity, innovation, and sheer magic of conservation science. Where there are differences of opinion or strategy, she gives a thorough accounting of why that is the case. This is seen best in her presentation of the differing opinions for Tassie devil conservation between vaccination and allowing evolution to take its course.
As the wild world continues to burn, flood,
recede and succumb, the science of conservation often becomes philosophical. ‘How can we save?’ becomes ‘What can we save?’ becomes ‘What should we save?’ becomes ‘What counts as saving?’
Hausheer takes on the philosophical underpinning to modern conservation science and demonstrates a remarkable thoughtfulness and insight. It is through her examination of the questions ‘What is the most useful way to grieve for what we have lost?’ and ‘How should we honour what we destroy?’ that she finds and tugs at the knot of unresolved grief that lives in every conservationist. It doesn’t completely disentangle at her attempt, but it loosens just a little.
The balance between the science and the personal is hard to strike. Often these sorts of books lean far too hard on a personal monologue or narration, without leaving enough room for the actual subject to be enrapturing. The opposite, too dry and textbookish, can be a risk in the other direction (though I’m personally much more resilient to this flaw than the alternate). Here Hausheer threads the needle.
Throughout the book, she captures the complexity, innovation, and sheer magic of conservation science. Where there are differences of opinion or strategy, she gives a thorough accounting of why that is the case. This is seen best in her presentation of the differing opinions for Tassie devil conservation between vaccination and allowing evolution to take its course.
As the wild world continues to burn, flood,
recede and succumb, the science of conservation often becomes philosophical. ‘How can we save?’ becomes ‘What can we save?’ becomes ‘What should we save?’ becomes ‘What counts as saving?’
Hausheer takes on the philosophical underpinning to modern conservation science and demonstrates a remarkable thoughtfulness and insight. It is through her examination of the questions ‘What is the most useful way to grieve for what we have lost?’ and ‘How should we honour what we destroy?’ that she finds and tugs at the knot of unresolved grief that lives in every conservationist. It doesn’t completely disentangle at her attempt, but it loosens just a little.
May 13, 2026
This one made me tear up a little near the end 🥲
A very educative read about animals threatened with extinction in Australia. It's really confrontational and made me realize just how dire the situation is. I cannot put into words how sad this makes me and how much I appreciate the people who put their time, effort and energy into trying to save these animals. Whether it's night parrots or Tassie devils or pygmy skinks, I really hope that they do not go the way of the thylacine and the Bramble Cay melomys.
The book is very interesting and delivers a ton of information about each species, interspersed with the author's own experiences visiting and partaking in rescue projects. A very educative and interesting read, but it really makes reality hit you like a truck. So while I recommend this because it's a good book...maybe wait 'til you're in the right headspace to read it. It's depressing.
Also W to the author for not licking the Colossal boot.
A very educative read about animals threatened with extinction in Australia. It's really confrontational and made me realize just how dire the situation is. I cannot put into words how sad this makes me and how much I appreciate the people who put their time, effort and energy into trying to save these animals. Whether it's night parrots or Tassie devils or pygmy skinks, I really hope that they do not go the way of the thylacine and the Bramble Cay melomys.
The book is very interesting and delivers a ton of information about each species, interspersed with the author's own experiences visiting and partaking in rescue projects. A very educative and interesting read, but it really makes reality hit you like a truck. So while I recommend this because it's a good book...maybe wait 'til you're in the right headspace to read it. It's depressing.
Also W to the author for not licking the Colossal boot.
June 22, 2026
I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Despite not being very knowledgeable about Australian wildlife, I found Hausheer’s writing style interesting and informative and it has definitely caused me to look for similar books about the fight against animal extinction.
August 14, 2026
This book has given me an insight into various groups of amazing people and the incredible work they are undertaking in order to assist some threatened species of native Australian wildlife. Sadly, there are far too many species that are suffering threats from the likes of humans, introduced species and climates changes. While much work is being done there are many species that are only just hanging onto their survival. This read for me was both enlightening and depressing as the reality of some species becoming extinct is all too real. The extinction of some will sadly no doubt continue to happen during my lifetime.
August 21, 2026
I enjoyed this book immensely, choosing a slow read for it, mostly a chapter at a time during my lunch breaks at work, out in the gardens, reading about nature whilst sitting in nature. It’s a book that inspires contemplation as you’re reading it with its mix of hope and despair.
‘The more species we lose from urban spaces, the fewer chances people have to make those connections. Animals like platypuses and koalas become things that live ‘out there’ in the bush, beyond the scope of our day-to-day lives. And the further they are from us, the less likely we are to remember just how responsible we are for what happens to them. Our cities simply can’t be home to all forms of wildlife, but we should endeavour with care to keep the ones that can persist alongside us.’
It’s incredible what some people are doing to save individual species, at a grassroots level, and it’s this activity that is making the biggest difference. But, for every species that has people working to save it, there are so many others just disappearing, or diminishing without notice until they are endangered. Hope and despair, two sides of the same coin. Those who are working tirelessly to save, conserve, and educate, are truly the most amazing, incredible human beings. Each chapter of this book is a celebration of those individuals, and I am in awe of what they are doing.
‘No amount of innovation can replace what we destroyed, because extinction is not just the loss of the animal. When a species vanishes, we lose its way of interacting with the land and other living things within it, including ourselves. Extinction severs all ties, ecological and cultural, in ways that can’t be re-created in a lab.’
This really is a fantastic book and I’m grateful to Justine E. Hausheer for writing it. It’s both factual and accessible and I learnt so much from reading it.
‘The more species we lose from urban spaces, the fewer chances people have to make those connections. Animals like platypuses and koalas become things that live ‘out there’ in the bush, beyond the scope of our day-to-day lives. And the further they are from us, the less likely we are to remember just how responsible we are for what happens to them. Our cities simply can’t be home to all forms of wildlife, but we should endeavour with care to keep the ones that can persist alongside us.’
It’s incredible what some people are doing to save individual species, at a grassroots level, and it’s this activity that is making the biggest difference. But, for every species that has people working to save it, there are so many others just disappearing, or diminishing without notice until they are endangered. Hope and despair, two sides of the same coin. Those who are working tirelessly to save, conserve, and educate, are truly the most amazing, incredible human beings. Each chapter of this book is a celebration of those individuals, and I am in awe of what they are doing.
‘No amount of innovation can replace what we destroyed, because extinction is not just the loss of the animal. When a species vanishes, we lose its way of interacting with the land and other living things within it, including ourselves. Extinction severs all ties, ecological and cultural, in ways that can’t be re-created in a lab.’
This really is a fantastic book and I’m grateful to Justine E. Hausheer for writing it. It’s both factual and accessible and I learnt so much from reading it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews