Simon King - Ambassador

The Wildlife Community are delighted to have partnered with TV naturalist Simon King. In our collaboration with Simon, we bring his ideas to fruition through our design and manufacturing team. This has already resulted in many wildlife designs, including his award-winning Brushwood Robin Nester and the Ultimate Wildlife Hide voted best on test.

Simon is an award-winning cameraman with a lifetime’s knowledge of wildlife watching both in the UK and overseas. 

Simon King was born in Nairobi when his father, John King, was working for the Forces Broadcasting Overseas. Perhaps Simon’s love of wildlife began in Africa. It certainly influenced his first career choice.

As a child he became an actor in his father’s wildlife drama, The Fox. Simon still recalls vivid memories of the discomfort of being dressed in knickerbockers and the delight of holding a fox! At the age of only 13 he teamed up with naturalist Mike Kendal to create a series of programmes entitled Man and Boy – his first foray into explaining the mysteries of nature to the general public.

Simon went on to create, film, direct and present many award-winning TV programmes and films. Some of the best known being Springwatch, Big Cat Diary, Planet Earth, Blue Planet and the Life series, African Cats for Disney and most recently extensive filming for the BBC's landmark series Wild Isles presented by David Attenborough.

"We need the natural world for our own survival. With the inexorable and rapid rise in human populations and our insatiable appetite for resources, we have become an unsustainable drain on the life support systems upon which we all depend. This is reflected in many global crises but can be witnessed close to home in the catastrophic loss of wildlife and wild places."

 

Free Fun Wildlife Activities for Children

Simon has created fun wildlife activities for kids that you can download for free, perfect for keeping you budding naturalists busy as bees in the school holidays.

Simon King Wildlife Travel

Simon started leading wildlife watching holidays and day trips over ten years ago and relishes the opportunity to share his enthusiasm and knowledge with small groups of people who are passionate about the natural world.​ He runs SKWTravel with his partner, Kim.

Kim Whittlestone is a criminal barrister by training. She and Simon met when on a trip to Shetland. They became firm friends and, ultimately, life partners. Kim is a passionate naturalist and has a warmth of personality that has helped turn many guests into lifelong friends. You can find out more on Simon King Wildlife Travel website.

 

Simon King Blog

Simon writes the occasional blog post for The Wildlife Community, including behind the scenes perspectives from TV shows like Wild Isles.

You can read his blog posts here