‘More they hurt me, harder I’ll try to change their minds’
leopards, which he is showcasing again in Big Catweek.
“It’s an opportunity to join a festival, it’s not a one-off gig. It gives us the opportunity to engage and worship a fascinating, endangered group of animals.
“Where they filmed, in Thailand for instance, gives us the chance to get under their skin.
“Nat Geo, with its Big Cat initiative, also supports research into these areas, supporting and con
these great animals. So the programmes are not only entertaining, they empower too, because we can be part of the solution by supporting that initiative. Ultimately, if you watch them, you come away as amazed by the behaviours as we were.”
Packham also makes a plea for a return to “ecotourism”, postpandemic, which is often criticised as being un-environmental.
“When it comes to these cats
mentioned in Big Cat Week, for those in the UK, how many people have travelled overseas recently, putting money into local economies through ecotourism and those people and animals? No one.
“Ecotourism has taken a significant hit and we have significant worries about the impact of that.
“Things like tigers and gorillas, the reason they probably persist is they have an economic value to that community. The lack of ecoserving tourism is something we have to address. We must strike a balance between that and our carbon footprint.”
He added: “The ecotourism community doesn’t really want to talk about it, but we have to reconcile that to do that we carry a carbon footprint with us.
“If we completely pull out, these communities will fall apart, habitats will disappear and turn into farmland, or it will be built on, and the animals poached or eaten. They have to face the facts that either you or I, or people like us, will want to visit them.
“In the meantime, we need to try to maintain these communities while we look at not flying back and forth to those countries, with all the associated carbon costs.
“I used to lead tours around the world. I don’t do it anymore, the world has changed.there needs to be a discussion about it.”
One film shows the behaviour of the endangered Thai fishing cat, known as a “tiger cat”, which wrestles spectacularly with its catch.
Chris suggested there are even echoes of his great footballing hero, striker Matt Le Tissier.
“I’m a Southampton supporter and Le Tissier played there during the time I was watching football.
“I remember some of his goals. There was one remarkable goal – he flicked it over his head and sort of dawdled around someone, and then he launched it up over the goalkeeper and into the top of the net. It was a moment of absolute magic. I’ll never forget it. And the parallel for me is that fishing cat.
“You just can’t believe it when you see it. It will stick with me as much as Le Tissier’s goal.”