Amidst storms, shipwrecks and the destruction of rainforests, two 19th century collectors race to capture rare birds in Hawai'i before impending extinction.
Killing Paradise tracks the expeditions of two bird collectors, Henry Palmer and George Munro, in late 19th century Hawai'i.
The journey of the collectors is funded by the fabulously wealthy Walter Rothschild, a man obsessed with acquiring every type of bird on the planet.
In Part I, Palmer and Munro endure the perils of stormy seas, treacherous reefs and a shark-hunting Captain en route to Laysan Island, a paradise of millions of seabirds and a tantalising lure of several species unknown to science.
Palmer follows the scant journals of famous naturalists as he seeks to rediscover birds unseen for decades. He soon becomes fixated with the fabulous Mamo, a bird whose yellow feathers has adorned the cloaks and capes of Hawaiian Kings and Queens for centuries.
The competition is rife as the wily Walter Rothschild battles other museums while his collectors desperately acquire a share of the lost birds before extinction beats them all.
Killing Paradise is a true story based on the lives of real people and rare birds in a world of last chances soon to be lost forever.