Winston Churchill’s ‘magnificently idiotic’ platypus quest – and more strange stories of Australian animals abroad - The Guardian

The colonisation of Australia coincided with a boom in European interest in exotic animals – so kangaroos, dingoes, wombats and more were shipped off regardless of practicalities

In early 1943, the second world war raged across multiple theatres. Hitlers army had just suffered a historic defeat at Stalingrad, but U-boats still prowled the Atlantic and Britains resources were … [+10020 chars]

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