Mark Carwardine
Encyclopedia
Mark Carwardine is a zoologist who achieved widespread recognition for his Last Chance to See
conservation expeditions with Douglas Adams
, first aired on BBC Radio 4
in 1990. Since then he has become a leading and outspoken conservationist, and a prolific broadcaster, columnist and photographer.
, which he wrote with the late Douglas Adams
(author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Other books that Carwardine has written include the award-winning Shark Watcher’s Handbook and Eyewitness Handbooks: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, which is the best-selling cetacean field guide ever published (nearly a million copies in print). Carwardine also writes a monthly column in BBC Wildlife
magazine, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines.
and the subsequent book (1990) described eight expeditions by Carwardine and writer Douglas Adams
to find and report on some of the most endangered species around the world. These were the aye-aye
in Madagascar, the Komodo dragon
in Indonesia
, the kakapo
in New Zealand
, the Amazonian manatee
in Brazil
, the Yangtze river dolphin in China
, the Juan Fernandez fur seal
in Chile
, the northern white rhino in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, and the Rodrigues fruit bat in Mauritius
.
Carwardine also presented the weekly half-hour radio programme Nature, on BBC Radio 4, for many years. He has also been the presenter of many other programmes for BBC Radio 4.
In autumn 2009, he joined forces with Stephen Fry
to present a follow-up to the original Last Chance to See with the late Douglas Adams. This was the six-part BBC2 television series, also called Last Chance to See
which concerned the very same endangered species
as in the original and how they have fared twenty years on. The series not only updated the situation with most of the endangered species featured in the original series but looked at some new ones, including the blue whale
in Baja California
, Mexico
.
In spring 2010, he co-presented The Museum of Life
(BBC2, 6 episodes), which explored the pioneering and often surprising research work and wildlife collections of the Natural History Museum
, in London.
On BBC2 in October 2010 there was an additional Last Chance to See special by Carwardine and Fry about the northern white rhino, Last Chance to See: Return of the Rhino, which followed the re-introduction of zoo-raised rhinos into the wild.
Also on BBC2 on 7 November 2010 Carwardine and Fry co-presented Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill about the effects, four months after the BP oil disaster
in the Gulf of Mexico.
competition, run by the Natural History Museum
and BBC Wildlife
.
Last Chance to See
Last Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
conservation expeditions with Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
, first aired on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
in 1990. Since then he has become a leading and outspoken conservationist, and a prolific broadcaster, columnist and photographer.
Writing
Carwardine has written more than 50 books. Most recently he has written Mark Carwardine's Ultimate Wildlife Experiences (Wanderlust Publications, 2011), which is a travellers' guide to the natural world. In 2009, he wrote Last Chance to See: In the Footsteps of Douglas Adams (HarperCollins). This is a sequel to the best-selling book, Last Chance to SeeLast Chance to See
Last Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
, which he wrote with the late Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
(author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy). Other books that Carwardine has written include the award-winning Shark Watcher’s Handbook and Eyewitness Handbooks: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, which is the best-selling cetacean field guide ever published (nearly a million copies in print). Carwardine also writes a monthly column in BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife is a British glossy, all-colour, monthly magazine about wildlife, founded by BBC Worldwide and published through the BBC Magazines Bristol division, also trading as Bristol Magazines Ltd....
magazine, and has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines.
Radio and television
In 1989 the BBC Radio 4 series Last Chance to SeeLast Chance to See
Last Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
and the subsequent book (1990) described eight expeditions by Carwardine and writer Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
to find and report on some of the most endangered species around the world. These were the aye-aye
Aye-aye
The aye-aye is a lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar that combines rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to fill the same ecological niche as a woodpecker...
in Madagascar, the Komodo dragon
Komodo dragon
The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...
in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the kakapo
Kakapo
The Kakapo , Strigops habroptila , also called owl parrot, is a species of large, flightless nocturnal parrot endemic to New Zealand...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the Amazonian manatee
Amazonian Manatee
The Amazonian Manatee is a species of manatee that lives in the freshwater habitats of the Amazon basin. They are found in Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana and Venezuela. Amazonian manatees are aquatic animals of the Sirenia order and are also known as "seacows". Their colour is grey but...
in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the Yangtze river dolphin in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
, the Juan Fernandez fur seal
Juan Fernandez Fur Seal
The Juan Fernández Fur Seal is a fur seal that breeds on the Juan Fernández Islands off the coast of Chile. It is the second smallest of the otariid seal . Discovered by navigator Juan Fernández in the sixteenth century, the seals became a target for sealers in the Maritime Fur Trade era...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, the northern white rhino in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, and the Rodrigues fruit bat in Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
.
Carwardine also presented the weekly half-hour radio programme Nature, on BBC Radio 4, for many years. He has also been the presenter of many other programmes for BBC Radio 4.
In autumn 2009, he joined forces with Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
to present a follow-up to the original Last Chance to See with the late Douglas Adams. This was the six-part BBC2 television series, also called Last Chance to See
Last Chance to See (TV series)
Last Chance to See is a wildlife documentary first broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom during September and October 2009. The series is a follow-up of the radio series, also called Last Chance to See in which Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine set out to find endangered animals...
which concerned the very same endangered species
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...
as in the original and how they have fared twenty years on. The series not only updated the situation with most of the endangered species featured in the original series but looked at some new ones, including the blue whale
Blue Whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
in Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
In spring 2010, he co-presented The Museum of Life
Museum of Life (documentary)
Museum of Life is a 2010 BBC2 documentary, that takes a look behind the scenes at the British Museum of Natural History. It is introduced and co-presented by Jimmy Doherty, who was a volunteer at the Natural History Museum ten years previously...
(BBC2, 6 episodes), which explored the pioneering and often surprising research work and wildlife collections of the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
, in London.
On BBC2 in October 2010 there was an additional Last Chance to See special by Carwardine and Fry about the northern white rhino, Last Chance to See: Return of the Rhino, which followed the re-introduction of zoo-raised rhinos into the wild.
Also on BBC2 on 7 November 2010 Carwardine and Fry co-presented Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill about the effects, four months after the BP oil disaster
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Photography
Carwardine has an extensive collection of wildlife, nature and environment photographs taken on all seven continents and in more than a hundred countries. Since 2005, he has also been Chairman of the judging panel for the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the YearWildlife Photographer of the Year
Wildlife Photographer of the Year is an annual international wildlife photography competition owned by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife. Its sponsored name is currently Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year...
competition, run by the Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England . Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road...
and BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife is a British glossy, all-colour, monthly magazine about wildlife, founded by BBC Worldwide and published through the BBC Magazines Bristol division, also trading as Bristol Magazines Ltd....
.
Wildlife tours
Carwardine was a founding director of the wildlife travel companies Discover the World, WildOceans and Ocean Wanderers, and now runs whale-watching tours to Baja California, Mexico and occasional specialist wildlife photography trips.Wildlife Art Company
Carwardine has recently started a wildlife illustration agency, the Wildlife Art Company, which sells natural-history illustrations to publishers.Selected bibliography
Carwardine has written more than 50 books, including the following:- Mark Carwardine's Ultimate Wildlife Experiences, with foreword by Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
(Wanderlust Publications, 2011) ISBN 978095409266-5 - Last Chance to SeeLast Chance to SeeLast Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
, with Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
first published 1990 by William Heinemann (Arrow Books, 2009, 2nd edition) ISBN 978-0099536796 - Last Chance to See: In the footsteps of Douglas Adams, with foreword by Stephen FryStephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
(HarperCollins, 2009) ISBN 978-0007290727 - Natural History Museum Animal Records (Natural History Museum, 2007) ISBN 13-978-0-565-09223-8
- Collins Wild Guide: Whales & Dolphins (HarperCollins, 2006) ISBN 0-00-720547-3
- Extreme Nature, with Rosamund Kidman Cox (HarperCollins, 2005) ISBN 978-0-0-0724648-9
- Shark (BBC Books, 2004) ISBN 0-563-48723-2
- Mark Carwardine's Guide to Whalewatching: Britain and Europe (New Holland PublishersNew Holland PublishersNew Holland Publishers is an international book and map publisher with a head office in South Africa and offices in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.-External links:****...
, 2003) ISBN 1-84330-059-1 - The Shark Watcher's Handbook: A guide to sharks and where to see them, with Ken Watterson (BBC BooksBBC BooksBBC Books is an imprint majority owned and managed by Random House. The minority shareholder is BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation...
, 2002) ISBN 0-563-53794-9 - Killer Whales (BBC Books, 2001) ISBN 0-563-53407-9
- The Guinness Book of Animal Records (Guinness Publishing, 1995) ISBN 0-85112-658-8
- Eyewitness Handbooks: Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (Dorling Kindersley, 1995) ISBN 0-7513-1030-1
- On the Trail of the Whale with foreword by Paul McCartney (Thunder Bay Publishing Co, 1994) ISBN 1-899074-00-7
- Last Chance to SeeLast Chance to SeeLast Chance to See is a 1989 BBC radio documentary series and its accompanying book, written and presented by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine. In the series, Adams and Carwardine travel to various locations in the hope of encountering species on the brink of extinction...
, with Douglas AdamsDouglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
(Pan BooksPan BooksPan Books is an imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers, Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group....
, 1991) ISBN 0-330-32002-5 - Birds in Focus (Salamander, 1990) ISBN 0-86101-544-4
- The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife with foreword by David Attenborough (Octopus Publishing, 1986) ISBN 0-7064-2437-9
- The Nature of Zimbabwe: A guide to conservation and development issues (IUCN,1988) ISBN 2-88032-933-7
- The Nature of Zambia: A guide to conservation and development issues (IUCN, 1988) ISBN 2-88032-403-3
- The Nature of Pakistan: A guide to conservation and development issues (IUCN,1986) ISBN 2-88032-404-1
- Iceland: Nature's Meeting Place, with foreword by the President of Iceland (Iceland Review, 1986) ISBN 0-948192-02-X
External links
- Carwardine's official website
- Radio 4 Nature "listen again" to episodes, circa 2003, presented by Carwardine, in Real Audio format.
- Radio 4 'Tough Lives' "listen again" to a series presented by Carwardine, in Real Audio format.
- Wildlife Art Company
- Stephen Fry's blog 17th October 2008