Educated at the University of Tasmania, Nick Mooney worked for the Tasmanian government’s wildlife agency for almost 32 years. He has worked on a wide variety of raptors, including peregrine falcons, wedge-tailed eagles, grey goshawks, becoming a founding member of the Australian Raptor Association. In the early 1980s Nick also took on monitoring reports of Thylacines and became concerned at the high levels of persecution devils suffered. As a wildlife biologist a the Parks and Wildlife Service he became involved in emergency management - little penguins in oil spills and coastal development and rescue of stranded whales. In 2003 he started the official response to Devil Facial Tumour Disease, and remains on the program’s Steering Committee.
Nick is committed to changing people's attitudes to nature and uses a variety of strategies from nature guiding, mentoring and lecturing to raptor rehabilitation (at one time overseeing a program in Risdon Prison) and assisting with documentaries. He has a strong conservation philosophy and is a great believer in enthusiastic, humorous communication and has contributed to many books and written many articles. He now works as a wildlife guide in Antarctica and Tasmania, occasional consultant and volunteer focusing on improving threatened species assessment in developments such as windfarms and mining and continues to lecture and mentor, dedicating much time to helping people better appreciate Tasmania’s native wildlife.