Monday, March 19, 2012

'Most detailed compendium of...crypto conundrum"


A great review from Sydney non-fiction author David Levell:

"Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (Strange Nation Publishing) must be the most detailed compendium of the Australia’s best documented cryptozoological conundrum. Authors Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang shine more light on the mystery than has ever been shone before.

"There’s no doubt big cats are out there in the outback. The mystery is what kind of cat, and whether other animals account for some of the sightings. These range from feral dogs and foxes to rather more unlikely candidates such as the long-extinct marsupial lion."

Read more here...

Monday, February 27, 2012

Our book gets the thumbs-up from Dr Naish


Dr Darren Naish gave Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers a very respectable thumbs-up recently on his very popular Scientific American blog.

He writes in part, in Williams and Lang’s Australian Big Cats: do pumas, giant feral cats and mystery marsupials stalk the Australian outback?:

"A long term interest and involvement in Australian and world mysteries led Michael Williams and Rebecca Lang to research and produce what is now the definitive volume on Australian mystery big cats; it’s titled Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers (Williams & Lang 2010).

"At 434 pages, it’s substantial. It’s also highly readable, nicely formatted and very well illustrated. The authors have collated a vast amount of information gleaned not only from published sources but also from interviews with both eyewitnesses and people who have examined evidence firsthand.

"Williams and Lang clearly travelled widely across the country, photographing locations, people, documents, taxiderm specimens and so on at what must have been great personal expense. They obtained freedom of information acts and other previously undisclosed documents. A lengthy appendix (c. 120 pages) includes copies of numerous letters and documents produced by government officials, veterinarians, ecologists, geneticists and others. The volume is fully referenced (though with the citations given at the bottom of the respective pages, rather than at the end of the text) and with an index.

"So, to anyone seriously interested in mystery animals, mystery big cats or Australian mammals in general, this book is a must-have..."

Reda more at http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2012/02/13/williams-and-langs-australian-big-cats/?print=true