When British zoologist John Gould published three volumes on Australian mammals 150 years ago, Victorian England went wild for his work. In a new book modern-day zoologist Fred Ford has revisited some of Gould's drawings to examine the fate of the native animals Gould documented, writes Verica Jokic.

Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world. It took us 100 years to kill off as many species as the rest of the world did in the previous 400.

Among the species that no longer exist are the Tasmanian tiger and many wallabies, potoroos, koalas and bandicoots. The work of famed zoologist and illustrator John Gould goes some way to explaining why Australia has lost so many of its native animals.

Of all the animals Gould encountered in Australia, the kangaroo captivated his attention more than any other. Modern-day zoologist Fred Ford says that Gould thought kangaroos were a zoological marvel that typified Australia.

'He also liked the way they tasted,' says Ford.

Gould boarded a sailing ship bound for Australia in 1838, on a private mission to document Australian birds.

'Initially he wanted to document pretty birds, but the Royal Society encouraged him to draw mammals,' says Ford.

Once he arrived in Tasmania, Gould became so enthralled with Australia's native fauna that he expanded his plans and employed naturalist John Gilbert to help him document the animals.

They traversed Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, often using dead animals for their sketches.

In his book John Gould's Extinct and Endangered Mammals of Australia, Ford writes that concern for the Thylacine's future was prevalent not only in Tasmania but around the world.

'Everyone could see it happening, all around the world people could see it was headed for extinction and that it was a tragedy,' he says. 'But on top of that there was recognition it was a genuine threat to industries and agriculture and pastoralism in Tasmania.'

'An animal's value was on whether it could be eaten or traded.'

Jo Karmel, the editor of Ford's books, says attitudes towards the Tasmanian tiger were rarely favourable.

'We have a clipping from a London newspaper describing it as one of the most stupid animals,' she says.

'They were considered bloodthirsty animals which killed the farmers' sheep, and the quolls were always in the hen house killing hens, and the bandicoots were destroying people's lawns.'

Bounties were placed on the thylacine. For several decades koalas were also seen as good for shooting.

'Thousands and thousands and thousands of koala pelts were traded,' says Karmel. 'But it wasn't just the fur they wanted. They and other animals were used as sport; people would go and take pot shots at them just for the hell of it.'

'But apparently the koalas learned that when gunmen were around they had to climb up higher and higher, so they weren't stupid about it.'

Ford documents how one shooter shot 31 koalas on a hunting trip because he wanted a rug. Half a million koalas were shot for their pelts in 1927 alone.

Gould predicted that koalas would become extinct, but it wasn't until 2012 that the animals were placed on the national endangered list.

Settlers also shot the animals to eat and it wasn't uncommon to find recipes for bandicoots, wallabies and other animals in newspapers and magazines.

Many small land-dwelling animals including potoroos, numbats, quolls and wombats have become extinct, endangered or threatened thanks to human activity and introduced species.

Only a few areas, including the south-west corner of Western Australia and the Shark Bay islands off its north-western coast, are fox- and cat-free. Rabbits and foxes could not or did not reach those areas, providing a safe haven for the animals.

Ford says that if we were to put up more fox fences, bettong numbers would improve drastically.

'But then you could have too many bettongs and too many bilbies. They dig up holes and become pests,' he says. 'Bettongs were good at eating potato crops. It would be fantastic if we got a glimpse of that problem again.'