O'Shea, Mark 1956–

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O'Shea, Mark 1956–

(Mark T. Shea)

PERSONAL:

Born 1956; son of Mo (a teacher) and Barbara (a teacher) O'Shea. Education: Attended University of Wolverhampton.

ADDRESSES:

Home—England.

CAREER:

Herpetologist. Affiliated with West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley, Worcestershire, England, since 1987, began as curator of reptiles, became consultant curator of reptiles. Has studied snakes around the world. Presenter of television documentaries about snakes, including O'Shea's Big Adventure, Animal Planet network.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea: The First Comprehensive Guide to the Snake Fauna of Papua New Guinea, Independent Publishing (Port Moresby), 1996.

(With Tim Halliday) Reptiles and Amphibians, DK Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

Venomous Snakes of the World, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2005.

Boas and Pythons of the World, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark O'Shea has gained an international reputation for his work with some of the most misunderstood and feared creatures on the planet. A native of Great Britain, O'Shea has studied venomous reptiles, amphibians, and snakes on six continents. He has sought to bring his knowledge and enthusiasm about these creatures to the world, by means of his books, documentary films, and television programs. He is probably best known for his television series O'Shea's Big Adventure. Growing up in Wolverhampton, England, O'Shea became interested in snakes at a very early age. He was about eight years old when he got his first chance to handle a snake. It was a boa constrictor at the Dublin Zoo. The length of the boa was twice O'Shea's height at that time. His first pet snake was an Italian grass snake which he named Escapist. His interest in snakes, reptiles, and amphibians continued to build as he grew, and he acquired a few different European and American snakes as a hobby.

Herpetology eventually became a career for O'Shea; he did research in the Amazon for the Royal Geographical Society, and in Papua New Guinea for Oxford University and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. On his home page, O'Shea recalls how his father had loved to look over maps and plan travel. O'Shea noted that he shared this enthusiasm, and added: ‘Combining my love of maps with my love of herpetology means I am completely fascinated by distribution maps. I want to know why something is found here, but not over there, what are the factors that limit a species' distribution.’ In addition to his field work, O'Shea also became a curator at West Midlands Safari Park in England.

As time permitted, O'Shea continued to travel the world making documentaries about poisonous snakes. ‘Every time I go overseas I try to identify and photograph every single species of herp I find, including males and females, juveniles and adults, differing, naturally-occurring, colour morphs and even the same species in different geographical locations,’ O'Shea said on his Web page. He explained that his goal in filming his series O'Shea's Big Adventure was to capture the feel of real research. He wanted there to be ‘no staged captures and no re-takes of captures so if the camera stopped working, tough, have to find another one and film that. This was what I wanted to do when we first discussed the series, I wanted it real and dangerous, from the ‘will they succeed point of view.’ The viewer doesn't know if we are going to find the quest species at the end, and nor do we.’ O'Shea's work has put him in many dangerous situations, including being bitten by venomous snakes, running out of air while diving in the ocean, being swept out to sea in shark-infested waters, and being threatened by aggressive humans in remote areas.

O'Shea has written several books about snakes, including Venomous Snakes of the World. In this volume, O'Shea begins with some general information on the biology and conservation of snakes. He then gives detailed profiles of some 170 species of snakes from around the world that can threaten human life, and intersperses hard facts with anecdotes about adventures in snake-hunting. The photographs accompanying the text ‘may frighten the serpent-phobic,’ cautioned Alvin Hutchinson in his Library Journal review of Venomous Snakes of the World. Geordie Torr, reviewing the book for Geographical, called it a ‘fascinating introduction’ to the subject. In a companion volume, Boas and Pythons of the World, O'Shea looks at the nonvenomous snakes, including pythons, boas, blind snakes, and thread snakes. They are grouped according to their geographic regions, and facts about their range, life habits, and so forth are included along ‘with beautiful color’ photographs, according to Nancy Bent in Booklist. Bent concluded: ‘This excellent book is highly recommended."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2007, Nancy Bent, review of Boas and Pythons of the World, p. 11.

Choice, February, 2006, P.E. Hertz, review of Venomous Snakes of the World, p. 1039; August, 2007, D.M. McKinstry, review of Boas and Pythons of the World, p. 2133.

Geographical, December, 2005, review of Venomous Snakes of the World, p. 79.

Library Journal, October 15, 2005, Alvin Hutchinson, review of Venomous Snakes of the World, p. 77.

New Scientist, March 24, 2007, Boas and Pythons of the World, p. 58.

Quarterly Review of Biology, March, 1998, Geordie A. Torr, review of A Guide to the Snakes of Papua New Guinea: The First Comprehensive Guide to the Snake Fauna of Papua New Guinea, p. 83.

Science Books & Films, March 1, 2006, John Mathew, review of Venomous Snakes of the World, p. 69.

SciTech Book News, June, 2001, review of Reptiles and Amphibians, p. 75.

Times Literary Supplement, March 10, 2006, Venomous Snakes of the World, p. 26.