Friday 21st August 2009 @ Theatre Royal, Bath

I used to watch Big Cat Diary in 1996 every Thursday night, marvelling at the kitty whisperer that is Simon King, avidly tracking the progress of the beautiful beasts. The King’s voice has been imprinted into my childhood. A storyteller for the fantasies of my natural world imaginings, he flew me to the Masai Mara and forged a love for the Big Cats that has never left me. Thus I was exceptionally excited about the hero himself, film man for Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Big Cat Diary, Spring Watch and Autumn Watch, in the district of Bath, chatting about his diverse and exhilarating life accompanying his new book, Wild Life.

The smart, tanned King sat on the Theatre Royal’s stage and told tales of dwindling at the guillotine’s edge, with a snake/cheetah/lion at the handle’s helm. He described situations involving, for example, a snake on the end of his camera, reared head, ready to strike and a stand-off where he merely waited for senor “incredibly stunning” snake to slink off. What was marvellous was the camera imagery to accompany many of his experiences like the rabid cheetah on the edge of an enclosure: He approached it like it was tame until it attempted to attack him and he kicked it in the face. Then later he found the cheetah attacking a park worker so he grabbed it by the tail and the scruff and threw it to the side, enraged. He was bitten in the process and blood was pouring into the camera lens from both men. Woah! Beautifully described and frightfully fantastic to see.

He also talked of habitualising with the Meerkats, Bushmen and Spring and Autumn Watch, which he sees as acquainting the British with nature in their own backyard. He is fascinated by wildlife and sees humans as species to wonder at too. Perhaps we should all get out of our introverted urbanised worlds a little and get closer to the millions of other species on this globe. When it came to him signing my copy of his book, unfortunately all I managed was an; “Amazing…” but it will still be a treasured, if clichéd, moment.

www.simonkingwildlife.com

Helen Martin