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Chris Packham
Christopher Gary Packham CBE (born 4 May 1961) is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work including the CBBC children's nature series The Really Wild Show from 1986 to 1995. He has also presented the BBC nature series Springwatch, including Autumnwatch and Winterwatch, since 2009.
The Really Wild Show starred Michaela Strachan, Howie Watkins and Chris Packham..
Springwatch's Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan with fellow presenters Iolo Williams and Gillian Burke
Packham was born in Southampton, Hampshire on 4 May 1961. He was educated at Bitterne Park Secondary School, Taunton's College and the University of Southampton, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. After graduating, he cancelled his study towards a Doctorate of Philosophy to train as a wildlife cameraman.
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Chris’s interest in wildlife seemed to have formed before he was even able to speak. His parents say that he liked to crawl across their modest lawn looking for ladybirds and fish for tadpoles and mosquito larvae in an old baby’s bath set in the corner of the garden. Soon jam jars were filled with hot sweaty caterpillars and all the bugs that didn’t bite too hard. Lizards followed, and then snakes along with plenty of pets. An early but aggravated obsession was with bats. Utterly inaccessible to the urban boy they were merely stuff of legend, pictures in library books and this led to a furious and somewhat hysterical desire for substitutes. Black rubber bats on pieces of elastic gave way to a pet black mouse called . . . Batty. Oh how Chris dreamed that the mouse was in fact that. It died on the 13th of November 1965 and was buried at the top of the garden under a green wooden cross. Perhaps this humble rodent helped fertilis the lifelong passion of a determined young naturalist. Otters came next, thanks to Ring of Bright Water, and the theme tune to the movie was played endlessly on the family’s old gramophone. His mother made him a fake fur otter which he would coil at the foot of his bed and in weak torchlight imagine was the real thing – a little Mijbil of his own.
Ring of Bright Water.
Dinosaurs were there all along of course but it was only when he discovered a song thrushes nest just before his 12th birthday that birds appeared on the agenda. The Observer’s book of Birds Eggs became the Bible and Chris became a young egg thief. Every day before and after school he would comb the hedgerows and woodland of the neighbourhood and in a few years amassed a representative collection of the local species eggs. His goal, the Grail for the young oologist, was to find a kestrels nest. Thus in 1974 he climbed on his bike and began cycling lanes of Hampshire entering all sightings of kestrels and other wildlife in the diary which he kept throughout his youth. At the same time he had the great good fortune to meet a teacher at his school, John Buckley, who immediately quelled the young rogues interest in egg collecting and set him on a course of scientific examination instead.
Thus Chris found nests, counted eggs and chicks and made maps of all their locations and within a couple of years he embarked on his first proper scientific study – The Population and Breeding Density of Kestrels in the Lower Itchen Valley. This was written up in his last year at secondary school and won the Prince Philip Zoology Prize a couple of years later. Chris was hooked as a young scientist and so sparrowhawks followed kestrels, barn owl pellets were examined with monthly regularity, graphs were drawn, tables formulated and results published.
In parallel with all this fieldwork at home Chris had expanded his collection of reptiles until the bedroom walls were lined with tanks and he was soon keeping kestrels, barn owls, buzzards and sparrowhawk in the garden and flying them free every day before school. Fox cubs came, grew and went as did baby squirrels, hedgehogs and badgers. John had also taught Chris the elementary skills of taxidermy and he supplemented his pocket money by stuffing birds – a worthy pursuit for any teenage boy!
In 1983, Packham was a part-time camera assistant for wildlife filmmaker Stephen Bolwell working with him on A Toad's Tale.
From 1983–1985, he worked on The Living Planet series and The Living Isles for the BBC and Ourselves and Other Animals, a series for Channel 4.
Packham is known for his work as a television presenter, which began in 1986 with the BAFTA-winning BBC1 children's programme The Really Wild Show (1986-1995) and nature photography series Wild Shots on Channel 4. He also wrote and presented the BBC One series The X Creatures and BBC Two's Hands on Nature and Nature's Calendar. Other television series included Go Wild (Live) and Travel UK for Central Television, Nature's Detectives (BBC), Really Wild Guide (BBC2) and The Great Dinosaur Trail, which he wrote and presented for LTV Carlton Television, Watchout Series II and III as lead presenter, Animal Zone (BBC2), Postcards from the Wild and An Evening with Chris Packham for Discovery Animal Planet. Other network television programmes included Flying Gourmets Guide (BBC1), The Great British Birdwatch (Live) for BBC, Smokescreen for Harlech Television, Beachwatch (Live), Flamingo Watch (Live), Heading South (Live) for the BBC, and Behind the Scenes of the Lost World for Meridian Television.
During this time, Packham was involved in numerous regional television series, such as The London Wildlife Challenge for ITV Carlton Television, Anything Goes (Live), Birdwatch with Chris Packham, The Pier on Film and Wildwatch with Chris Packham for Meridian Television, and Go for Green for BSB Satellite and Cable. Regional television programmes included: Through Two Cameras, The Wild Garden, The Wood Worker, The Disappearing Down, Jewels in the Sand, Wildfowl Seasons and The Keepers of the Forest.
He was the lead presenter on BBC South's Inside Out, and has also worked on BBC South East's Inside Out with Kaddy Lee-Preston.
Since June 2009, he has co-presented the BBC Two nature programme Springwatch - and its sister programmes BBC Autumnwatch and BBC Winterwatch – along with various others. He has also led yearly birdwatching tours in The Gambia.. He formed the production company Head Over Heels with producer Stuart Woodman, making wildlife programmes for Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC. In 2011, Packham won an episode of the BBC's Celebrity Mastermind. His specialist subject was the Battle of Rorke's Drift. He also presented the BBC programme The Animal's Guide to Britain.
My Favourite Place on Planet Earth | Chris Packham
My Favourite Place on Planet Earth | Chris Packham
I’m Angrier Now Than At Any Point Since My 20s | Aaron Meets Chris Packham | Downstream
In 2013, he presented a four-part documentary series entitled Secrets of Our Living Planet, which demonstrated the complex ecological relationships upon which apparently unconnected species, such as tigers and crabs, depend. In 2014, Packham presented a two-part BBC documentary in which he, Martha Kearney and Adam Hart examined in detail the behaviour of the honeybee, as well as a BBC series on animal cognition, called Inside the Animal Mind, which partly featured his own pet dogs. In 2014, he presented a 10-part series The Wonder of Animals for the BBC. It included episodes on birds of prey, dolphins, crocodiles, great apes, elephants, foxes, ants, big cats, bears and penguins.
I’m Angrier Now Than At Any Point Since My 20s | Aaron Meets Chris Packham | Downstream
In 2016, Packham co-presented a two-part series for the BBC, Cats v. Dogs: Which Is Best?, along with Liz Bonnin. The programmes compared cat behaviour and relationships with humans, against those of dogs, in the format of a mock contest. It also explored some recent research on the subject. In 2017, Packham co-presented Earth Live on Nat Geo Wild with Jane Lynch and Phil Keogan. The programme was a live journey exploring some of the most spectacular wildlife on the planet. He also worked with Jaguar Land Rover on a promotional podcast series called The Discovery Adventures. In October 2017, he presented a BBC Television documentary about his experience as a high-functioning person with Asperger's, Chris Packham: Asperger's and Me. In the programme, Packham examined critically the approach taken to autism and Asperger syndrome in the United States.
Dudley Autism Event 2022 - A message from Chris Packham
In January 2018 he presented BBC Two's The Real T-Rex, in which he attempted to rebuild the most authentic Tyrannosaurus rex ever seen, from the bones up. Also in January he presented Chris Packham: In Search of the Lost Girl on BBC Two, in which he highlighted the impact of palm oil consumption on the rainforests of Sumatra.
Dudley Autism Event 2022 - A message from Chris Packham
Tropical Sumatra Rainforest..
Sumatra jungle trek
In August 2018, Packham co-hosted Yellowstone Live on National Geographic Channel with TV host Josh Elliott, a four-night event showcasing the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with feeds from dozens of live cameras and seven camera crews. In March 2019, Packham presented, along with Liz Bonnin and Steve Backshall, four-part series Blue Planet Live. In 2020, he narrated a three-part documentary series called Primates. Along with Ella Al-Shamahi, he also co-presented Waterhole: Africa's Animal Oasis which premiered in December of the same year. In 2021, Packham presented a six-part BBC Two documentary series called Animal Einsteins; the series premiered on 21 February 2021. In July 2021, a one-hour special titled Chris Packham: A Walk That Made Me, in which Packham walked a familiar path in Hampshire, premiered on BBC Two. Shortly after, he co-presented a six-part series alongside step daughter Megan McCubbin titled Chris and Meg's Wild Summer. In April 2022, he presented a segment filmed in Iceland for the first episode of BBC's Our Changing Planet. In August 2022, Packham co-presented with Megan McCubbin BBC's Earth Proms concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.
Figure 1. Map of the GYE showing land ownership.
Yellowstone Live Season 2 (National Geographic) Chris Packham Exclusive Interview
Yellowstone Live Season 2 (National Geographic) Chris Packham Exclusive Interview
Packham is president of the Hawk Conservancy Trust, the Bat Conservation Trust, the Hampshire Ornithological Society, the British Trust for Ornithology and the Southampton Natural History Society. He was president of the Hawk and Owl Trust between 2010 and 2015. He is vice-president of the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts, Butterfly Conservation, the Brent Lodge Bird & Wildlife Trust, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Grace Secondary School (The Sudan). Packham is patron of Population Matters (formerly the Optimum Population Trust), Africat, and The Sholing Valleys Study Centre. He is also patron of the Woolston Eyes Conservation Group, which manages Woolston Eyes Bird Reserve, The Humane Research Trust, The Fox Project, ORCA, The Seahorse Trust, The NatureWatch Foundation, Raptor Rescue, The Fleet Pond Society and Birding for All. Packham became the Ambassador for the National Autistic Society in October 2017. Packham set up Wild Justice in February 2019, a not for profit company limited by guarantee which aims to ensure that the legal system in the UK protects wildlife.
Giant Panda..
Native to central China, giant pandas have come to symbolize vulnerable species. As few as 1,864 giant pandas live in their native habitat, while another 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world. The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is a leader in giant panda conservation.
Ever since these charismatic bears arrived at the Zoo in 1972, animal care staff and scientists have studied giant panda biology, behavior, breeding, reproduction and disease. These experts are also leading ecology studies in giant pandas' native habitat. The Zoo's giant panda team works closely with colleagues in China to advance conservation efforts around the world.
Physical Description
The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on its ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage. In patches of dense bamboo, an immobile giant panda is nearly invisible, and virtually disappears among snow covered rocky outcrops on a mountain slope. This theory does not work, however, when considering that giant pandas have no natural enemies to hide from. Another thought is that the pattern may accentuate social signals in some way, or help giant pandas to identify one another from a distance so they can avoid socializing, as they are typically a solitary animal. Another theory suggests that the black absorbs heat while the white reflects it, helping giant pandas maintain an even temperature. Unfortunately, there is no one conclusive theory as to why giant pandas are black and white.
The giant panda has lived in bamboo forests for several million years. It is a highly specialized animal, with unique adaptations. The panda's thick, wooly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for crushing tough bamboo. Many people find these chunky, lumbering animals to be cute, but giant pandas can be as dangerous as any other bear.
Size
About the size of an American black bear, giant pandas stand between 2 and 3 feet (60 to 90 centimeters) tall at the shoulder (on all four legs), and reach 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) long. Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds (113 kilograms) in the wild. Females rarely reach 220 pounds (104 kilograms).
Native Habitat
Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in south central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. They once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing and other development now restrict giant pandas to the mountains.
Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds.
Communication
Giant pandas do not exhibit body characteristics that communicate visual signals. They have round, inexpressive faces. Their tails are stubs and therefore cannot flag signals to other giant pandas. They have no crest or mane to erect, and their ears are not flexible enough to cock forward or flatten. It is thought that giant pandas never developed these visual accessories due in part to their habitat and solitary nature. Giant pandas live in dense, fog-enshrouded stands of bamboo that obstruct a direct line of sight and any potential visual communications. Giant pandas do occasionally vocalize when playing. During mating, they become very vocal, relying on extremely detailed vocalizations to express all shades of mood from amorous to angry.
Most of their communication is accomplished through scent marking throughout their habitat and territory. Giant pandas mark their territory by rubbing secretions from their anal glands onto tree trunks, rocks or the ground, usually along paths that they habitually tread. Scent marking alerts giant pandas in the vicinity to one another. Depending on who reads the mark, the scents may either separate giant pandas or help bring them together. Outside of breeding season, a scent mark that is unfamiliar is usually enough to send a potential intruder ambling away. During breeding season, however, a female's scent mark advertises her sexual readiness and draws males to her. A female is more likely to accept a male whose scent she recognizes and has encountered before.
Food/Eating Habits
Millions of Zoo visitors enjoy watching giant pandas eat. A panda usually eats while sitting upright, in a pose that resembles how humans sit on the floor. This posture leaves the front paws free to grasp bamboo stems with the help of a "pseudo thumb," formed by an elongated and enlarged wrist bone covered with a fleshy pad of skin. The panda also uses its powerful jaws and strong teeth to crush the tough, fibrous bamboo into bits.
A giant panda's digestive system is more similar to that of a carnivore than an herbivore, and so much of what is eaten is passed as waste. To make up for the inefficient digestion, a panda needs to consume a comparatively large amount of food—from 70 to 100 pounds of bamboo each day—to get all its nutrients. To obtain this much food means that a panda must spend 10 to 16 hours a day foraging and eating. The rest of its time is spent mostly sleeping and resting.
Social Structure
Adult giant pandas may be generally solitary, but they do communicate periodically through scent marks, calls and occasional meetings. Recent research has also found that giant pandas may form communities of seven to 15 individuals within the local population.
These individuals occupy a "group" territory, within which male home ranges overlap almost completely, while female home ranges overlap far less. Members of different "groups" generally avoid socializing with each other. Offspring stay with their mothers from one and a half to three years.
Reproduction and Development
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years of age. They may be reproductive into their 20s. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. A short period of two to three days around ovulation is the only time a giant panda is able to conceive. Calls and scents draw males and females to each other.
Female giant pandas give birth from 90 to 180 days after mating. Although females may give birth to two young, usually only one survives. Giant panda cubs may stay with their mothers for up to three years before striking out on their own. This means that a wild female, at best, can produce young only every other year. In a lifetime, a giant panda may successfully raise only five to eight cubs.
The giant pandas' naturally slow breeding rate prevents a population from recovering quickly from illegal hunting, habitat loss and other human-related causes of mortality. At birth, a giant panda cub is helpless, and it takes considerable effort on the mother's part to raise it. A newborn cub weighs 3-5 ounces and is about the size of a stick of butter. Pink, hairless, and blind, the cub is 1/900th the size of its mother. Except for a marsupial, such as a kangaroo or opossum, a giant panda baby is the smallest mammal newborn relative to its mother's size.
Cubs do not open their eyes until they are 6-8 weeks old and are not mobile until they are 3 months old. A cub may nurse for eight to nine months and is nutritionally weaned at 1 year old, but not socially weaned for up to two years.
Sleep Habits
In the wild, giant pandas typically nap between feedings for two to four hours at a time, snoozing on their side, back, or belly, either sprawled or curled up. While a giant panda is resting, it continues to defecate. The number of droppings at a rest site can be used to gauge the relative amount of time a giant panda spent at that site. During a short rest of less than two hours, there are five to ten droppings. Eleven to 25 droppings often accompany rests lasting longer than two hours. Most rest periods are two to four hours in duration but may increase to six or more hours during the summer months.
Lifespan
Scientists are not sure how long giant pandas live in the wild, but they are sure it is shorter than lifespans in zoos. They estimate that lifespan is about 15-20 years for wild pandas and about 30 years for those in human care. Chinese scientists have reported zoo pandas as old as 35. The Smithsonian National Zoo's Hsing-Hsing died at age 28 in 1999.
In 2009, during an interview with the Radio Times, Packham suggested that the giant panda was too expensive to save and "should be allowed to become extinct" so that funds could be redistributed to protecting other animals and habitats. He made a comment, in September 2009, saying he would "eat the last panda" if doing so would retroactively redistribute the money spent on panda conservation. He later apologised for upsetting people.
In 2009, 2014, 2017 and 2021, he criticised the TV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! for its mistreatment of animals.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2010, Packham said that "The human population is sowing the seeds of a mass extinction event" and advocated for human population control. In 2017, he again expressed this view saying that if every woman could be emancipated, birth rates would drop.
Malta - Massacre on Migration (Episode 1)
Malta - Massacre on Migration (Episode 1)
In 2014, he self-funded a film crew to produce a series to highlight the mass killing of migrating birds by hunters in Malta. In April 2017, he was arrested and charged with assault while filming on the Maltese island of Gozo. The case was dismissed after video footage evidence was revealed, with Packham saying "We had good evidence which showed that the boot was very firmly on the other foot – that we were the party that were abused in the situation. It serves to highlight what we came here to do, which was to throw attention on the fact that the Birds Directive – the legislation which is in place to protect birds all across Europe – is being abused here in Malta."
Hunters are targeting migrating birds in Malta
Hunters are targeting migrating birds in Malta
In 2015, Packham signed a letter to MPs to block the proposed changes to amend the Hunting Act 2004. He has worked to raise awareness of the illegal persecution of birds of prey in the UK. He resigned as President of the Hawk and Owl Trust in 2015 citing "Personal differences over ideas of policy". Later in 2015 Packham wrote an article in BBC Wildlife magazine complaining about the silence of many of Britain's leading conservation organisations on the issues of fox hunting, badger culling and hen harrier persecution. This elicited a public response from the Countryside Alliance calling for the BBC to sack him. Packham organised the writing of a manifesto for UK wildlife in 2018 which he delivered to Downing Street via The Peoples Walk for Wildlife. The event raised awareness of the loss of wildlife in the UK with around 10,000 people turning up to march from Hyde Park to Downing Street.
Chris Packham at the Natural History Museum during his mid-20s CREDIT: Courtesy of Chris Packham
An early visualization of the new High Speed Railway Network HS2..
Packham took part in Veganuary in 2019 and subsequently decided to remain a vegan, following three decades of vegetarianism. Later that year, Packham stated he would no-longer take internal flights and that he had purchased an electric car. Packham opposes the currently under construction High Speed 2 project and launched legal action against it in March 2020, without success.
The fire from the Range Rover spread to the gates of Chris Packham's home..
Packham's activism in the cause of wildlife conservation has resulted in both online and offline harassment and physical threats against him, especially because of his work in 2019 with Wild Justice in challenging the legality of general licences issued by Natural England for landowners to shoot a range of wild birds. Shortly after midnight on 8th October 2021, Packham's home was the object of a suspected arson attack by two masked men who set fire to a vehicle which exploded and destroyed the gates to his property. He commented that this attack was an escalation in the harassment he has received over some years, and that discovering dead animals, including foxes and badgers, tied to his gate was now a "normal occurrence". It was reported that such "activity had escalated to the point where he now feared for his life and the safety of his family", but also that it would not stop his activism and publicising of the conservation causes he believed in. Hampshire Constabulary stated that it was investigating the incident.
(Completely gutted) The Land Rover was set on fire at the entrance to the New Forest property.
Chris Packham Reveals Arson Attack on His Home 'Won't Stop' His Wildlife Campaigning | This Morning
Chris Packham Reveals Arson Attack on His Home 'Won't Stop' His Wildlife Campaigning | This Morning..
Wildlife activist Chris Packham has lashed out at vile 'bullies' who strung up a dead badger outside his home
Chris Packham said he would not be intimidated after dead birds were left at his home. Photograph: Chris Packham/Twitter
Winchester in Hampshire.
Fashion designer Jenny Packham
Packham spent his early childhood in Hampshire and natural history was his main passion. He is the older brother of fashion designer Jenny Packham. He found his time at school very difficult, being socially excluded and regularly bullied by fellow pupils. In his teenage years, he was responsible for the care of a Kestrel, which he took from the wild and the death of which was a severe low point in his life. At university, he embraced the Punk Rock scene. Packham has had Ménière's disease (MD) since his late 30s. In 2003, at the age of 42, Packham began seeing a therapist after the death of his dog. As his work with the therapist concluded in 2005, Packham was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. He has also stated that he has had severe depression.
Chris, as a child, discovers a life-long love. “My parents didn’t mind my obsession with animals”
Chris, aged 18, in the family front room with a selection of wild birds he found and stuffed.
Charlotte Corney with Chris Packham at the Isle of White Zoo.
Isle of Wight Zoo director Charlotte Corney.
Honours and awards
In 2011 he was awarded the Dilys Breese Medal, by the British Trust for Ornithology, for his "outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences".
In December 2013, Packham was made an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton, having originally graduated from the university more than 30 years earlier.
In December 2014, Packham was voted "Conservation Hero of the Year" by readers of Birdwatch magazine in association with the online BirdGuides website for his work in publicising the illegal slaughter in Malta of millions of migrating birds.
In October 2016 he received a Wildscreen Panda Award for Outstanding Achievement.
Packham's memoir Fingers in the Sparkle Jar, published by Ebury Press in April 2017, was voted the UK's Favourite Nature Book in a poll run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in January 2018.
The BBC Two documentary Chris Packham: Asperger's and Me broadcast in October 2017 received the 2018 Broadcasting Press Guild Award for the best single documentary.
In July 2018 he received an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway, University of London, for his outstanding services to wildlife conservation.
Packham was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to nature conservation.
Mr Packham has been appointed a CBE for his services to nature conservation.
