Chris Packham

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.

Packham was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to nature conservation.

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 July 2018 he received an honorary doctorate from Royal Holloway, University of London, for his outstanding services to wildlife conservation.

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.

In 2017, Packham co-presented Earth Live on Natgeo Wild with Jane Lynch and Phil Keogan. The programme was a live journey exploring some of the most spectacular wildlife on the planet.

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.

Packham became the Ambassador for the National Autistic Society in October 2017.

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 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 October 2016 he received a Wildscreen Panda Award for Outstanding Achievement.

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.

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 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 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.

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 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 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 2011 he was awarded the Dilys Breese Medal, by the British Trust for Ornithology, for his "outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences".

Packham is president of the Hawk Conservancy Trust and the Bat Conservation Trust, the Hampshire Ornithological Society, British Trust for Ornithology and the Southampton Natural History Society. He was president of the Hawk and Owl Trust between 2010 and 2015.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2010, Packham said that "The human population is sowing the seeds of a mass extinction event." In 2017, he again expressed this view saying that if every woman could be emancipated, birth rates would drop.

Since June 2009, he has co-presented the BBC Two nature programme Springwatch – and its sister programmes BBC Autumnwatch and BBC Winterwatch – along with Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games.

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 and 2017, he criticised the TV show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! for its mistreatment of animals.

Packham has had Ménière's disease 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 suffered from severe depression.

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) The Good Sex Guide Series III 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.

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.

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.