Chris Packham


Christopher Gary Packham CBE 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.

Early life

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.

Television career

Early career

In 1983, Packham was a part-time camera assistant for wildlife filmmaker Stephen Bolwell, working with him on A Toad's Tale.
From 1983 to 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 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 and Travel UK for Central Television, Nature's Detectives, Really Wild Guide and The Great Dinosaur Trail, which he wrote and presented for LTV Carlton Television, Watchout Series II and III as lead presenter, Animal Zone, Postcards from the Wild and An Evening with Chris Packham for Discovery Animal Planet. Other network television programmes included Flying Gourmets Guide, The Great British Birdwatch for BBC, Smokescreen for Harlech Television, Beachwatch , Flamingo Watch , Heading South 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 , 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 2009

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.
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.
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.
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.
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 stepdaughter 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.
Packham narrated the three-part BBC nature series Dogs in the Wild: Meet the Family, that aired from late December 2022 to early January 2023.
In February 2023, Packham presented Inside Our Autistic Minds, a two-part BBC documentary about autism.
In June 2023, Channel 4 commissioned Chris Packham: is It Time to Break the Law?; a documentary in which Packham examined whether climate change protestors are justified in breaking the law for their cause. The documentary, released in September 2023, saw Packham accompany two Just Stop Oil protestors and film them daubing the headquarters of Policy Exchange with paint. Packham ultimately declared that he supported climate activists who were willing to commit imprisonable offences but did not intend to do so himself.
In June 2023, Packham joined the cast of the fifth series of Celebrity Gogglebox, alongside his daughter Megan McCubbin, and returned for the sixth series in 2024.
Packham presented Earth, a five-part documentary series that aired on BBC Two during July and August 2023. Packham will present Evolution, an upcoming five-part documentary series commissioned by the BBC.
In October 2024, Packham became the first non-US-based director of the Climate Emergency Fund.

Charity work and wildlife conservation

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. Packham was president of the RSPCA from 2023 to 2024. In December 2024 Packham and Caroline Lucas resigned from the RSPCA after accusing it of "legitimising cruelty".
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.
Packham is patron of Population Matters ; Africat; the Sholing Valleys Study Centre; 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 co-founded Wild Justice with Mark Avery and Ruth Tingay in February 2019, a not for profit company limited by guarantee which aims to ensure that the legal system in the UK protects wildlife.

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 in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to nature conservation.