Ian Redmond, exuberant and tireless wildlife defender, world renowned scientist

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Putting conservation principles into practice, he has led anti-poacher patrols, guided film crews and/or special interest tours into close encounters with gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, elephants and erupting volcanoes, and worked to support local conservationists during the horrors of Rwanda’s and D.R. Congo’s civil wars. Under-cover investigations led him to play the role of a potential ape-buyer in order to infiltrate poaching rings in both DRC and Congo-Brazzaville and a potential Coltan dealer in DRC. His work on behalf of animals was recognised in 1996 with the presentation of the PAWS Humane Achievement Award, at a ceremony in Hollywood, California. Ian was appointed OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2006 and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Oxford Brookes University in 2011, a Lifetime Achievement Award at the New York Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in 2013 and received the 2013 Animal Action Award for Conservation from the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Ian Redmond’s research interests also include: underground elephants - he carried out the first study and photography of elephants in the caves of Mt Elgon in Kenya and helped Sir David Attenborough to film them for the acclaimed BBC series ‘Life of Mammals’; parasites - he studied gorilla parasites, and in Papua New Guinea, discovered several new species and a new Genus of nematode worms; reptiles and amphibians - he discovered two new species of frog, also in New Guinea; and re-introducing orphaned apes, elephants and polar bears to the wild.

Asked to summarise his work, he says, “I am a naturalist by birth, a biologist by training, and a conservationist by necessity. But conservation for me isn’t just about saving species. On a larger scale, the planet needs us to save functioning eco-systems; on a smaller scale, we must also recognise that species are made up of individual animals. For me, it became personal when I had the privilege of getting to know individual wild animals in the wild... I can truthfully say that some of my best friends are gorillas, and I care passionately about them and the future of all life on Earth."

Watch the video and see more content at https://www.mojostreaming.com/video/789/ian-redmond-interview-eps1#.YvKj1MnjtXw.link

Stayed tuned for Episode 2 and 3 of Ian Redmond's interview with MojoStreaming a wildlife online network