His earliest memory is standing on a wall collecting lady birds; little did Chris Packham know it was the beginning of a life path for him.

“I can remember standing on this wall in the corner of my parent’s driveway. Their neighbour Mrs Greenwood had a bush overhanging our driveway which was literally filled with ladybirds. I would stand there until I’d filled my matchbox.” Born in a suburb of Southampton in 1961 Chris quickly developed a fascination with animals and birds. “I was particularly obsessed with bats due to their inaccessibility. Most boys love dinosaurs as it feeds their imagination, wondering what they are like and how they live and it was the same for me with bats and otters too actually.” In the ’60s otters were a national rarity. “As I couldn’t find them or see them naturally it added to their allure.” At secondary school one of his teachers John Buckley helped to channel Chris’s self-confessed obsessional personality. “John was very instrumental in my early development, he helped me to focus my interests and use them for writing scientific papers. With his help I studied many animals in great detail, writing up their data and I had papers published long before I entered Uni.”

Chris won the Prince Philip Zoology Prize with guidance from John. “We still keep in touch as John gave up teaching and now works in conservation and his wife was my history teacher and I read history books all the time even now.”

Chris spends time both in France and in the New Forest with his poodles Itchy and Scratchy. “Sometimes you do just want to sit in your own chair and watch your own TV but I am really, very fortunate to do what I do and at some point when it’s less busy for me I will spend more time at home.”

To read the full interview with Chris Packham, pick up a copy of the January 2012 issue of Suffolk Norfolk Life Magazine, or subscribe online and get it delivered to your door.