Chasing Kangaroos : A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature

The internationally acclaimed author of The Weather Makers crafts a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique inhabitants: the kangaroo. Drawing on three decades of travel, research, and field work, Tim Flannery shows us how the destiny of the extraordinary kangaroo is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures, eccentric fossil hunters, farmers, scientists, kangaroo advocates, and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rain forests have shaped human responses to the continent—and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, Chasing Kangaroos is a captivating blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science—and further proof of Flannery's "offhand interdisciplinary brilliance" ( Entertainment Weekly ). "Absorbing, funny, and wonderfully learned." —Bill Bryson, New York Times –bestselling author of A Walk in the Woods

In his most personal book yet, Tim Flannery, the internationally acclaimed author of The Weather Makers, draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to craft a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. Crisscrossing the continent, Flannery shows us how the destiny of this extraordinary creature is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures and eccentric fossil hunters, farmers and scientists, kangaroo advocates and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia’s deserts and rain forests have shaped human responses to the continent--and how kangaroos have  evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, Chasing Kangaroos is a captivating blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science--and further proof of Flannery’s “offhand interdisciplinary brilliance” (Entertainment Weekly).

**The internationally acclaimed author of __The Weather Makers__ crafts a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique inhabitants: the kangaroo.** Drawing on three decades of travel, research, and field work, Tim Flannery shows us how the destiny of the extraordinary kangaroo is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures, eccentric fossil hunters, farmers, scientists, kangaroo advocates, and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rain forests have shaped human responses to the continent—and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. Ultimately, is a captivating blend of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science—and further proof of Flannery's "offhand interdisciplinary brilliance" (). "Absorbing, funny, and wonderfully learned." —Bill Bryson, –bestselling author of Conservationist Flannery draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to craft a love letter to his native land and one of its most unique and beloved inhabitants: the kangaroo. Crisscrossing the continent, Flannery shows us how the destiny of this extraordinary creature is inseparable from the environment that created it. Along the way he uses encounters with ancient aboriginal cultures and eccentric fossil hunters, farmers and scientists, kangaroo advocates and kangaroo hunters, to explore how Australia's deserts and rainforests have shaped human responses to the continent--and how kangaroos have evolved to handle the resulting challenges. A synthesis of memoir, travel, natural history, and evolutionary science.--From publisher description The acclaimed naturalist and author of The Weather Makers celebrates his native Australia and one of its most extraordinary creatures as he crisscrosses the continent to look at how the kangaroo both shapes and is shaped by its environment, looks at Australia's natural history and habitats, and traces the evolution of the kangaroo. Reprint.