Aussie Ark

by Tim Faulkner

From the time he was old enough to focus on an object, Tim Faulkner has had his eyes glued on things that slither, climb, claw, wrap, shake, hop and burrow.

Over the past twenty years, Tim Faulkner's wild life has included relocating a male crocodile in an effort to increase his chances of getting lucky; extracting venom from some of the world's most deadly snakes and spiders; filming TV shows broadcast in over 170 territories worldwide; establishing and rewilding a breeding population of Tasmanian devils on the mainland; building conservation organisations such as Aussie Ark from scratch; co-owning the Australian Reptile Park; and rescuing rare turtles and other wildlife after the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

There is a powerful motivation behind his decision to share stories and lessons from his remarkable life in animal conservation. Tim is passionately committed to raising our awareness of the catastrophic situation facing Australia's unique animals and ecology. This country has the worst mammal and plant extinction rate on earth, and 1 in 3 of our native mammals are at imminent risk of disappearing forever.

With help from supporters including Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Zac Efron, Chris Hemsworth, Shania Twain, Adrian Grenier, and Gretel and Roslyn Packer, Tim Faulkner is on a mission to save Australia's threatened wildlife and restore its unique biodiversity. And he wants all his fellow Aussies to join him in the fight.

Genres: Nonfiction, Australia

210 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 5, 2022

About the author

Wrestling a saltwater crocodile, wrangling a deadly Taipan and milking a Funnel-web spider is all in a days work for Tim Faulkner and that still leaves time in this passionate conservationists day to release a blue-tongued lizard, tag a wild platypus and save the Tasmania Devil from extinction, topped off with coordinating his responsibilities as General Manager and Head of Conservation at the Australia Reptile Park in Somersby NSW and The Devil Ark at Barrington Tops NSW. Tim Faulkner is the Australian Geographic Australian Conservationist of the Year 2015.

Tim is a recognised leader in the Australian zoo industry and in conservation organisations. His working life has been dedicated to hands-on wild life education and conservation. Responsible for the day-to-day running of the Central Coast’s largest tourism attraction the Australian Reptile Park. Along with 35 staff and 50 volunteers, Tim is credited with the growing success of the park as the leading wildlife tourism attraction in NSW for both regional and global markets, attracting over 220,000 visitors a year, including regular bus tours of visitors from North and South East Asia.

n 2012, Tim began to appear regularly on Network Ten’s program Bondi Vet. It became quickly apparent that Tim’s talents are not confined to the inside of a zoo. His magnetic personality shines through the television screen and his genuine enthusiasm for the animal world contributes to stable ratings in a prime time slot for the show, with viewership close to 500,000 per episode.

In 2013 Tim was able to shine the spotlight on his beloved animals and endangered species in his own program, The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner. Now in it’s third series, the television show is the perfect blend of wild life conservation education and entertainment. With Tim’s lust for adventure and animal expertise engaging viewers of all ages, he brings to life the combination of deadly and dangerous animal encounters as well as rescuing cute and cuddly mammals.

The series airs on both the Nine Network and on Foxtel’s National Geographic channel. The successful series is also broadcast around the world in 150 countries, boasting a global audience of 180 million per series. His consistent message of Australian nature conservation is a genuine and essential part of the educational series and his global audience is ever expanding.

Tim’s dedication to conservation extends beyond his professional life into him being a personal Ambassador and activist on behalf of several Australian animals. He was instrumental in initiating the not-for-profit organisation and is the General Manager and on the Board of Directors of, The Devil Ark, a large-scale conservation breeding facility for Tasmanian Devils in the Barrington Tops of NSW. In 2015 he became a patron for the Great Koala National Park, he is also an Ambassador for the Quokka and the Australian Dingo Coalition. Tim‘s nomination for and winning of the 2015 Conservationist of the Year title by the Australian Geographic Society comes a great honour and delight.

Reviews

[Craig and Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Echo Publishing for sending us a copy to read and review.
Australia has so many unique and beautiful animals and many types of landscapes that they live in.
Over population, deforestation and an insatiable demand on natural resources all contributing to the endangered status of many of these animals.
Tim has always had a passion for our wildlife and a dedication to raising awareness of their plight and has made it his mission to slow down the extinction rates.
The projects he is involved with, the success and the reversing of decline in numbers is outlined in a book that makes a perfect coffee table read.
Anecdotes, facts and glossy pictures make this a great read.
We need more people like Tim pushing this agenda and everyone needs to ask what they can do to contribute to slowing the extinction rate.
It will be very sad if the iconic animals disappear for good, the regret and sadness that is shared about the Tasmanian Tiger should not be repeated.
Preservation and conservation need to be higher on all political, social and economic agendas.
I love this feel of this sturdy hard cover and its ethos so aligned to mine.
It is the type of book that you can pickup again and again.
A big thank you to Tim for his wonderful efforts and future endeavours.

[Maddy A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the whole thing in one day I loved it so much!

A must read for any animal lovers and conservationists.

Has many beautiful pictures of Australia’s unique fauna.

Tim has the perfect balance of call to action and facts to alarm readers, but also shows the hopeful side to conservation efforts.

[Rina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

From the time he was old enough to focus on an object, Tim Faulkner has had his eyes glued on things that slither, climb, claw, wrap, shake, hop and burrow. Over the past twenty years, Tim Faulkner's wild life has included relocating a male crocodile in an effort to increase his chances of getting lucky; filming TV shows broadcast in over 170 territories worldwide; and building conservation organisations such as Aussie Ark from scratch. Tim Faulkner is on a mission to save Australia's threatened wildlife and restore its unique biodiversity. And he wants all his fellow Aussies to join him in the fight.

This book surpassed my expectations! I thought it would focus more on Tim’s TV journey and celebrity encounters, but it didn’t. In fact, it was full of information about animals, biodiversity and conservation programs.

I actually didn’t know who Tim was before this book. I didn’t watch his TV appearances and didn’t know of his celebrity status. That made his story even more impressive when I read his journey through his own words, acting on his passion and compassion and turning them into effective organisations and constructs that actually made real changes in the world.

Establishing Aussie Ark was no mean feat. I commended Tim’s grit, energy and determination to get through all the processes and governance to get to where he is now. Fully illustrated with colourful photos of our wildlife beauties, I’d recommend everyone to get a copy!

(Thanks to DMCPR Media and Echo Publishing for a gifted review copy)

See my bookstagram review.

[Marles Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book to introduce you to Australian fauna and and his work in the preservation of these amazing creatures, check it out!

Tim shares his passion for Australia, his life and work history, and his family in this book. I included a few snapshots of the amazing photography in the book. If you'd like to support the sanctuary and further preservation work, check out Aussie Ark.

Thank you to Echo Publishing for this beautiful hardcover copy.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read about the conservation and awareness of endangered Australian native animals and all the good work Tim Faulkner is doing at ARP and Aussie Ark. It definitely shows that children need to be educated and made aware of the plight of our animals, so they can protect them for future generations to view and wonder over.