Ben and Ellie decide to act.īen convinces the rival gang that he wants to help them break in and they set a date for an ambush. When the Sydney gang tries to break into the zoo, Molly divulges her plan to burn Taronga to the ground rather than let another gang occupy it. Ben quickly earns the trust of all of the animals except for Raja, the male tiger, who hates Ben for restricting his physical freedom.Īlthough Ben originally sees Taronga as an ideal community, he soon discovers that Molly is a ruthless and selfish leader. She takes him to the community leader, Molly, who allows Ben to stay after he proves that he can also round up and cage the cats. He is saved by Ellie, an Aboriginal girl who is in charge of the big cats. Inside, Ben is almost attacked by two tigers, Raja and Ranee. The gang wishes to break into the zoo and plans to use Ben as bait.
The gang takes Ben to Taronga Zoo, which houses another gang of survivors and is guarded by tigers and other predators. The dog sacrifices itself to give Ben the opportunity to escape, but Ben is still captured. He then makes a hard decision to travel to Taronga Zoo to find out what creature could still be so wild and free in a zoo. When he reaches the city, only then he realizes that the wild Call is coming from Taronga Zoo. He is joined by a stray dog who would do anything for Ben, having become loyal as they grew close in their travels.Īs he draws closer to his destination, he hears the Call of something wild and ferocious. He travels first on foot, then by bike, using mountain roads to avoid local gang activity. Ben runs for his life, fearing capture.īen decides to return to Sydney, where he once lived with his parents. Ben then realises there are people in the distance coming closer with guns. Seeing the horse suffer, Ben shoots it but leaves the man. He Calls the horse causing it to fall and crush the man.
He breaks this promise less than a day later when he is pursued by a man on horseback. When he finally escapes, he promises not to use the Call again. Ben feels guilty about leading the animals to their death but faces a beating from Greg if he does not comply. Ben lives with a callous man named Greg, who uses Ben's powers, which he calls "the Call", to attract game for hunting. The book begins two years after the Last Days.
The protagonist is a young teenager named Ben, who has developed telepathic powers and is able to communicate with animals. It is not directly revealed to the audience what has caused this apocalypse, but it is assumed that it was due to global war. The story revolves around the catastrophic disaster that destroys the Earth as we know it and its impact on Australia in the Southern Hemisphere.
Taronga (1986) is a young adult science fiction post-apocalyptic novel written by Australian author Victor Kelleher.
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