Meet Sami Bayly

Meet Sami Bayly ⎯ the author and illustrator of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals.

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What’s your earliest memory of drawing or writing stories?

I remember sitting on the warm floors in the shed out the back of my house in Queanbeyan around age 5, drawing my family and pets on countless pieces of paper. My mum would draw alongside my sister and me while my dad played the drums for us. It was a very fun way to spend sunny afternoons and weekends.

Have you always had a passion for animals?

I have loved being around animals, as well as learning and talking about them my whole life. We had pets from a young age, including dogs, rabbits, horses, fish, birds, donkeys and more, so they were a big part of my everyday life. We had a big backyard and were often outside playing in nature. It’s no wonder I love flora and fauna as much as I do.

What’s your favourite memory of playing in nature or with animals?

I remember going out into the paddock with Mum to brush and feed the horses in early primary school. Sometimes, they’d get out of the paddock and even try to follow us inside the house when we brought our grocery shopping in! I also remember when we uncovered a family of brown snakes living under the steps at the front door (seeing them slither after we ran up the steps). Nature was very much a part of our lives and not something we shied away from.

What was it like writing this book? How much research did you have to do?

I loved writing this book. However, it wasn’t without its challenges. Many of the extinct creatures I decided to focus on had been gone for quite a long time, meaning finding reference images was a lot trickier than usual. However, I treated that as a fun challenge since it allowed me to tap into my creative side a little more. It took months of research to understand how and why these animals went extinct, what they looked like, what they ate, where they lived and other fun facts. It was a huge task.

When did you consider writing and illustrating a full time gig?

It was during my third book, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs, that I was able to turn my book-making passions into my full-time career. This was because I received a grant from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust. It allowed me to stop working at my casual retail job and focus my attention entirely on the writing and drawing process. I haven’t looked back since.

Did writing and researching about these creatures make you sad?

In the beginning, it did. My previous books had only ever focused on animals that were still alive. The worst conservation status that they would have had was critically endangered (which still provides a small amount of hope), so to be hit with extinction after extinction was quite a shock to the system.

After noticing the emotional impact it was having on me, I made sure to include prehistoric creatures in between the modern ones when researching. That way, I was also learning about animals that had died for reasons other than human-induced ones, which ended up helping quite a bit.

If you could bring back any of the animals which would you choose?

I would love to bring back all of these animals! But I know that it wouldn’t end well, especially with some of the huge prehistoric creatures.

I think my favourite would be the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine). I have loved Thylacines since I was a child, and their extinction story was quite tragic; it would be great to give them another chance at life and let them be a natural predator to help balance the ecosystem. However, I don’t think trying to bring back an animal after it has gone extinct by using its DNA is something we should dabble in. I believe that we should learn from our mistakes and not lose them in the first place. That will prevent any unnecessary losses in the future.

What animal would you be terrified to meet?

I would have been terrified to come across the Quinkana face-to-face. This 5-7m crocodile had long legs to run rapidly across the land to chase prey, unlike their modern relatives (the saltwater crocodile), who spend most of their time in the water. Their teeth were designed to create enough brute strength that one bite would usually kill their victims.

What a fun fact or two you’ll never forget from this book?

A female thylacine’s pouch helped to carry her young, while the purpose of a male’s pouch was to protect his reproductive organs.

The Titanoboa was the largest, longest, and heaviest snake ever known. It was around the length of a school bus and weighed about as much as a small car.

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Meet Sami Bayly was published in partnership with Hachette Publishing. Buy The Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals or Meet Sami Bayly online via her Instagram or website.