BUFFALO JOHNNY
PORTRAIT of an AUSSIE BATTLER
The true story of the Top End’s Notorious Outback Zookeeper
As a former member of the Belgian Resistance group, the Witte Brigade, and a Holocaust survivor, Jean Meskens, aka Buffalo Johnny, is well equipped to handle challenges. He clears sixty-five acres of bush in the outback of Australia and traps animals for a zoo. With corrugated iron from a uranium mine and WWII military equipment including bombs and missiles, he puts together his zoological masterpiece – a masterpiece that eerily holds him captive to a painful past.
Jean’s drive can only be explained as the psychological journey of a person with the rare obsession and work ethic of a Holocaust survivor. This true story offers an unprecedented look at the history of the Northern Territory and a portrait of one of Australia’s unusual outback settlers.