David Howells Fleay AM MBE PhD (1907 - 1993)

Born 6 Jan 1907 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Sigrid (Collie) Fleay — married 1931 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Died 7 Aug 1993 at age 86 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Biography

David Fleay AM MBE PhD is Notable.

Doctor David Fleay AM MBE PhD was an Australian naturalist who pioneered the captive breeding of endangered species, and was the first person to breed the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and the platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) in captivity. He was also noted for the production of extensive quantities of death adder, brown snake, mulga snake and tiger snake venom.

Formative years

David Howells Fleay was born on 6th January 1907 at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. He was the older son of Ballarat-born parents William Fleay, a manufacturing chemist, and Maude Glover, who had studied painting under the noted Fred McCubbin. His grandparents had all migrated from England. ^[1] David was educated at a government primary school and then Ballarat Grammar School. He was first employed in his father's pharmacy store. ^[2]

David entered the University of Melbourne in 1927 to study for the dual degrees, Bachelor of Science and Diploma of Education. ^[2]

In 1931 in Melbourne, David married fellow uni student, Sigrid Collie, the New Zealand born-only child of Scottish and Norwegian parents, both lately deceased. ^[2][3] They had a son and a daughter: ^[4]

• Rosemary Fleay (1937-) author and biographer, married surname Fleay-Thomson
• Stephen Fleay (1942-) as of 2020, retired and living in Portugal after a national and international career in television and radio journalism

Victoria

Following graduation, having majored in zoology, botany and education, David obtained employment as a teacher in Ballarat until 1934. In 1933, he was the last person to photograph a captive thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) at the Hobart Zoo, Tasmania. In the process he was bitten on the buttocks, the scar from which he proudly carried throughout his life. ^[2]

In 1934, David was asked to design and establish the Australian animal section at Melbourne Zoo, and worked there for four years. During this time he had several scientific achievements, including the first breeding in captivity of the emu. He also commenced research into the breeding habits of the platypus. ^[2]

In 1937, David moved to the Healesville Sanctuary, some ninety kilometres from Melbourne, as director. The animals there included quolls, Tasmanian devils, dingoes and various birds of prey, to which he added tiger snakes that were milked for antivenene, and platypus. His greatest achievement at Healesville came in 1943, when he bred the first platypus in captivity. No-one other than him successfully bred and reared a platypus until 1998 when Healseville Sanctuary again had success. David also kept a private collection of animals until, in 1951, the Government of Victoria legislated to prevent private individuals from charging fees for the public to see animal collections. ^[2]

Not only locally, but David was being recognised internationally as a naturalist and was honoured to be elected a Corresponding Member of the Zoological Society of London in 1945 and a Corresponding Member (Life) of the New York Zoological Society two yaers later.

Queensland

As a result of the Victorian government's stand, David moved his collection to the Tallebudgera estuary on Queensland's Gold Coast, behind Burleigh; opening to the public in 1952. By 1958 he had enclosures for people to see platypuses, snakes, dingoes, plain turkeys, ospreys, crocodiles and alligators. Bandicoots, flying foxes, sea eagles, wallabies and koalas were free to visit from the adjoining forest. Injured or sick animals from as far away as New Guinea and Central Queensland were accommodated at the sanctuary. His focus remained on the scientific study of the animals. Between 1982 and 1985 David sold the 65-acre sanctuary to the Queensland Government at a nominal rate to ensure its continuance; who continue to operate as the David Fleay Wildlife Park. Under the terms of the sale, David and Sigrid were allowed to continue living and working at the park. ^[2]

In 1962 David co-founded the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland with poet Judith Wright, British landscape architect Brian Clouston and fellow wildlife park operator Kathleen McArthur. ^[2]

Further recognition of his high standing in the naturalist world came when David was appointed Associate of the Queensland Museum in 1978 and Fellow of the Explorers Club, New York in 1979.

Published works

David was an author

David Fleay wrote many books on animals, ^[5] including:

• We Breed the Platypus (1944)
• Talking of Animals (1956)
• Living with Animals (1960)
• Nightwatchmen of Bush and Plain: Australian Owls and Owl-Like Birds (1968)
• Paradoxical Platypus: Hobnobbing with Duckbills (1980)
• Looking at Animals (1981)
• Gliders of the Gum Trees
• David Fleay's World of Wedge-tails : the writings of David Fleay on the wedge-tailed eagle
• David Fleay's Australian Nature Stories: Emus
• David Fleay's Australian Nature Stories: Wombats

He was featured in the National Geographic magazine's October 1958 issue with the article Fight of the Platypuses, and wrote extensively as a newspaper columnist on natural history topics. Several of David's scientific papers were published, including in The Victorian Naturalist, The Australian Zoologist, Walkabout and Wild Life.

Retirement

Retirement was short-lived before tragedy struck, David losing his loving wife and partner of 56 years, Sigrid, in 1987.

David passed away, aged 86 years, on 7th August 1993 on the Gold Coast, Queensland. ^[2] He was survived by both of his children.

Community honours

David received many awards and honours, including:

• inaugural awardee of the Australian Natural History Medallion, 1940
• appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), 1960 ^[6]
• appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM), 1980 ^[7]
• Advance Australia Award, 1980
• honorary Doctorate of Science by the University of Queensland, 1984
• appointed a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, 1984

Two animals bear David' Fleay's name:

• Fleay's barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi)
• Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle (Aquala audax fleayii), a sub-species that he identified

Sources

1. ↑ Victoria Birth Index #359/1907
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8} Wikipedia profile: David Fleay; accessed 5 Oct 2020
3. ↑ no record of this marriage has yet been located
4. ↑ Houston, Alison. 'Son of famed Coast naturalist gives insight into amazing animal adventures'. Queensland Times 15 May 2020; accessed 8 Oct 2020
5. ↑ rear cover of Fleay-Thomson, Rosemary. Animals First: the Story of Pioneer Australian Conservationist & Zoologist Dr David Fleay
6. ↑ Australian Honours: MBE; accessed 8 Oct 2020
7. ↑ Australian Honours: AM; accessed 8 Oct 2020

See also

• Fleay-Thomson, Rosemary. Animals First : the story of pioneer Australian conservationist & zoologist Dr David Fleay.
• David Fleays Wildlife Park website; accessed 5 Oct 2020.
• Potts, Andrew. Gold Coast naturalist David Fleay remembered on 65 anniversary of his famous wildlife park. Gold Coast Bulletin, 31 May 2017; accessed 15 Oct 2020.