Dr Tony Friend

Wildlife Research Scientist

Tony Friend is a zoologist who developed an expertise in soil invertebrates during his university studies in Tasmania, specialising in the ecology and taxonomy of forest litter amphipods. On completion of his studies in 1980, he was appointed as a research scientist with the Western Australian Department of Fisheries and Wildlife to investigate the dramatic decline of the State’s mammal emblem, the termite-eating marsupial, the numbat. Over the following five years Tony’s work included one of the earliest studies showing that removal of foxes caused dramatic increases in medium-sized mammal numbers, leading to the Western Shield program.

In the following years, his research with the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and its predecessors focussed on the recovery of several other threatened marsupials in the wheatbelt and south coast of WA. He moved to Albany in 1999 to lead the Gilbert’s potoroo and dibbler recovery programs. He retired in 2020 but continues to contribute to the recovery of WA’s threatened marsupials.

Tony was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1998, travelling to New Zealand, North America and southern Africa to study the use of dogs and satellite technology in wildlife research and management. He is a past President of the Australian Mammal Society and currently serves on the Board of the International Federation of Mammalogists. He lives in Albany with his partner, retired research scientist and emerging textile artist Anne Cochrane, who shares his love of paddling in kayaks on the South Coast and walking in Europe.