John Young is an Australian naturalist and cinematographer.

Early life

John Young grew up on a farm for cattle and sheep in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. As a boy, he began

egg-collecting Oology (or oölogy) is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek ''oion'', meaning egg. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometimes called egg c ...

with his brothers as a hobby. While in his twenties, Young held several jobs, including as an electrician, truck driver, and a fencer.

Career

In the 1990s, Young created John Young Wildlife Enterprises. The company ran birding tours and also produced wildlife films with the aim of documenting rare species of birds.

Blue-fronted fig parrot controversy

In 2006, Young claimed to have photographed a putative new species of parrot in southern

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, calling it the

blue-fronted fig parrot The blue-fronted fig parrot, also referred to as the blue-browed fig parrot, is a putative undescribed fig parrot said to inhabit the rugged rainforest-covered border ranges of subtropical south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales ...

. A forensic expert suspected that some colour of the bird's plumage had been altered, changing its brow from red to blue. Young maintained that he did not alter the colours, stating that he only lightened or darkened parts of the images. He said that he had deleted the original photographs of the bird which were requested by the forensic expert.

Night parrot controversy

In 2013, Young reported that he had sighted and photographed the night parrot, an endangered Australian bird. Live night parrots had not been definitively documented since 1912, though two dead ones were found in 1991 and 2006. However, the appearance of mesh in one of Young's photos raised questions as to how he was able to get pictures and videos of such a secretive bird. Young denied that he captured the individual, which would have been illegal. In 2016, Young was hired as a senior biologist for the

Australian Wildlife Conservancy The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is an Australian independent, nonprofit organisation, working to conserve threatened wildlife and ecosystems in Australia. This is principally achieved through the acquisition of extensive areas of land ...

(AWC). He resigned from his position in September 2018. In 2019, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy published a report determining that some of Young's supposed observations were not credible. They determined that night parrot calls recorded by Young at Kalamurina Sanctuary were the result of playing publicly available call files near the detector rather than calls from an actual bird. Experts determined that an alleged night parrot nest photographed by Young contained fake eggs made of plaster or clay. As a result of their report, the AWC also retracted Young's findings related to the

buff-breasted buttonquail The buff-breasted buttonquail (''Turnix olivii'') is the largest and possibly the rarest of the buttonquail. This species is endemic to Cape York Peninsula, in Queensland, Australia. Description The buff-breasted buttonquail measures from and u ...

, another endangered Australian bird.

Documentaries

*''Ghosts of the Forest'' (2001) *''The Kingfishers'' (2004) *''John Young and the search for the red goshawk'' (2004) *''Kingdom of the

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...

'' (2004) *''Rainforest: a musical journey through an Australian rainforest'' (2004) *''Owls'' (2004) *''Birds of Prey'' Part 1 (2005) *''Birds of Prey'' Part 2 (2006) *''Shadows in the desert: unearthing the secrets of the desert'' (2006) *''Wings of silence'' (2006)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, John Australian naturalists Australian cinematographers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Birdwatchers Egg collectors