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Journey among Animals is zoologist Meredith Happold's delightful and enlightening story of her work with animals – especially bats. It begins with the story of Micky the mouse-eared bat who taught her to love bats, and her childhood in rural Australia surrounded by goats, horses, dogs and possums. Meredith studied zoology at university, going on to become a highly regarded zoologist specializing in animal behaviour and ecology.
Journey among Animals explores some of her field career in Nigeria and Malawi where she studied the demography of small mammals at different altitudes. Her fieldwork culminated in having an African bat named after her and her husband (Happolds' Pipistrelle, Parahypsugo happoldorum) in recognition of their work. Bats are much-maligned animals, but Meredith demonstrates how these delightful, intelligent, friendly, curious, useful creatures are so important in today's world and Journey among Animals are Meredith's reflections on how attitudes to animals and the study of animal behaviour have changed during her lifetime.
Meredith Happold was born in Victoria, Australia in 1945 and was a zoologist for over fifty years. She has spent many years in the field, especially in Africa, and has worked as a lecturer or demonstrator in animal behaviour, ecology and other aspects of zoology at Monash University, La Trobe University, University of New England and the Australian National University. She has been published extensively in scientific journals and profiled 168 bats for the book Mammals of Africa. Meredith is now retired.
