Huge congratulations to Chris Packham who was honoured at last night’s Mirror Animal Hero Awards 2019, winning the Outstanding Contribution Award.
His citation read as follows:
Chris Packham
Television presenter, campaigner, author and environmentalist who has inspired the nation to celebrate and care for British wildlife.
Naturalist, television presenter, writer, photographer, conservationist, campaigner and filmmaker is one of Britain’s most powerful voices for the natural world.
Chris has translated a childhood passion for wildlife into a career as one of our best-loved TV presenters, who has instilled a love and concern for animals and the environment in millions of viewers of all ages.
Since he could crawl Chris has been an ardent nature lover – as a toddler he would search the family garden in Southampton for ladybirds to rescue and he spent his teenage years studying birds, badgers and other wildlife.
He also played in a punk band, but despite trading in his pink platforms for a comfortable pair of walking boots, the music’s ethos left an indelible mark on Chris who learned to never take ‘no’ for an answer.
He went on to study Zoology at Southampton University and trained to be a wildlife cameraman, working on A Toad’s Tale with Stephen Bolwell in 1983.
He soon swapped for a career in front of the camera, presenting award-winning The Really Wild Show from 1986 until 1995, instilling a love of animals in a whole generation of kids.
He has become one of our best-loved wildlife presenters, with the hugely popular Springwatch, and its BBC spin-off shows.
Chris has always used his platform to campaign for the natural world.
Throughout his career, he has been a vociferous opponent of the badger cull and a leading campaigner against driven grouse shooting.
He is vocal about wildlife and conservation injustices, travelling to Malta in 2014 to conduct an award-winning investigation into the horrifying slaughter of migrating birds.
Chris, 58, co-founded the Wild Justice campaign group which takes legal action on the behalf of wildlife against public bodies who are failing to protect species and their habitats.
He said: “Our wildlife has been abused, has been suffering, exploited or destroyed by criminals for too long. Well, no longer.”
His work has won him numerous accolades including a CBE earlier this year for his services to nature conservation.
ENDS
There’s also an exclusive interview with Chris in today’s Mirror (here) covering death threats, intimidation, Wild Justice, Extinction Rebellion and the youth climate strikers.
There was another familiar face amongst the winners last night – congratulations to Inspector Kev Kelly from North Yorkshire Police who received a Special Recognition award for his efforts tackling wildlife crime (including raptor persecution) across the county.
Raptor Persecution UK 
Three Cheers for Chris
Well done, well deserved. Its great that in Wild Justice you have a proper, tangible platform to be able to take pro-active steps to protect our wildlife.
A role model for young and old. In addition to so many other initiatives, Mr. Packham’s Walk for Wildlife and Manifesto for Wildlife in 2018, brought conservationists from across a range of disciplines together, along with a concerned public, to demonstrate the vital need for us to stand up together, beyond particular niches, for a healthy planet, for wildlife and humanity. Hope there it will become an annual event… and also be taken up in other countries.
Well done Chris🏆😀, hope u ok & slept well🤞have a nice day😎😘xxx
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Congratulations Chris! Great to see the well deserved standing ovation! Somehow I can’t imagine you ever making a contribution that wouldn’t be ‘outstanding’… Thank you so much for all you do, and the way you do it, and thank you for inspiring the rest of us to get up and ‘do stuff’ too!!
Well done Chris! Thoroughly deserved recognition! A true wildlife ambassador for wildlife worldwide!
Envied by many! Keep up the fight Chris!
Brilliant, so well deserved.
Yep, a true ambassador for wildlife. Sir Chris Packham – for sure!
Typical of the daily mirror . buttering up to the interfering Chris packham .stop meddling in the countryside it has looked after it’s self for years it don’t need you telling us how to manage it go away .
Like so many of your persuasion, your grasp of the issue is obviously as poor as your use of the English language.
What nonsense Mr Cooper! If the countryside “looks after itself,” then why do you have to manage it? And if you’re doing so well, why have we lost so much valuable wildlife habitat in the UK? The Hen Harrier is virtually extinct through at least 90% of its available habitat in England, thanks to the grouse shooting ‘community.’ I won’t even start on the climate change fiasco.
Here here!
I don’t understand how he receives these awards? when he spouts so many lies and false facts just to enhance his personal agenda by constantly throwing out false information to the average Joe to shock and therefore back his cause, which in fact in many cases are scientifically proven against him. The normal person will just see and believe his social media and not actually research the true facts. He’s very militant with no interest in conservation just pushing his own cause and status.
The only lies come from folk like you.
Totally deserves his award. Well done Chris packam he should get a night Hood for this what a star.
If ever there was a human being whose only ‘agenda’ was to help wildlife and stand up for this tortured planet of ours whilst being brave enough to take the criticism it’s Chris Packham. Thank you, we need you more than you will ever know!