Tim Faulkner has lived a wild life.
And he's revealed the details in his new autobiography, which he launched on Wednesday.
He wrote the book during the COVID lockdown, which involved "taking a walk down memory lane" and looking at the things that make him who he is.
Writing the book made him feel "a little exposed and vulnerable".
"I just hope that people like me beyond what they see on the surface and, at the same time, want to share and celebrate Australia's wildlife."
The book, titled Tim Faulkner's Aussie Ark, is about personal tales of "adventure, exploration, mishaps and ups and downs".
Tim, managing director of the Aussie Ark wildlife sanctuary in the Barrington Tops, wrote the book to share stories and lessons from his life in animal conservation with "as big an audience as possible".
"That's what I do," he said.
"It's about my life, the many extraordinary and unique opportunities I've had and my love for Australia and her wildlife.
"My dream is that every Australian child reads this book with their parents or by themselves.
"They need to know what's at stake. They need to know what I know because it's the future generations that need to carry on my work, or at least be aware of what they stand to lose."
Tim said his life had been "wonderful and extraordinary".
He recalled celebrating the moment Tasmanian devils were released into nature at the Barrington Tops ark, the first time they'd been on mainland Australia in 3000 years.
"These are things that have shaped me."
One tale from the book involved Tim coming face to face with a buffalo.
"We've all seen Crocodile Dundee when he puts a buffalo to sleep," he said.
Tim's experience was a little different. Put it this way, the buffalo didn't go to sleep.
"I came head on in a life or death situation, with my wife behind me," he said.
The book reveals his experiences running Aussie Ark in the Barrington and the Australian Reptile Park at Somersby on the Central Coast.
He recalled his first meeting with co-director Liz Gabriel.
"Twenty years I've been here. You can imagine a lot happens. One of the first times I met my co-director Liz, she had an olive python wrapped around her head, biting her face."
He said Aussie Ark and the Australian Reptile Park are "a significant part of who I am".
Aussie Ark had developed over the last decade into "one of Australia's premier conservation organisations".
Dr Chris Brown, who worked with Tim on the TV series Bondi Vet, provided the foreword for the book.
"To know Tim is to know and experience pure commitment and passion towards wildlife conservation," Chris said.
"It also means a front-row seat to one of the wildest lives around. So I'm excited that his work, and let's just call them what they are ... adventures, can now jump off the page into your world as well."
Tim has gained help in his mission from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Zac Efron, Chris Hemsworth, Shania Twain, Adrian Grenier, and Gretel and Roslyn Packer.
But he wants all Aussies to join his mission to save Australia's threatened wildlife and restore its biodiversity.
"I've learned so much and you can read all about it in the book."
