Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Award-winning conservation biologist best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction.
On the island
Eight records
Conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. Brings back memories of Zoo Time with Desmond Morris.
Grandfather was Butcher Bynan, based on his own grandfather.
Captures the hedonism of his student days in London.
Reminds him of Sega parties on the beach and the village he lived in for 20 years.
AsimbonangaFavourite
Anti-apartheid song about Nelson Mandela; represents tolerance between cultures.
Rodrigues Sega, a tamer version of Mauritian Sega; reminds him of his bolt-hole island.
Londonderry Air (The Cello and the Nightingale)
Beatrice Harrison (cello) with nightingales
Symbolic of being close to wildlife; nightingale now rare in Britain.
His daughter plays the harp and has performed this piece; one of his favourites.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:08Why are Andean condors so special to you?
When I got them, they were both hand-reared birds. They come from zoos. The parents had not incubated the eggs, they'd been hatched in an incubator, so they were very humanized. … So when I first got these birds, very, very tame, interacting with me a great deal, and my job was to try and sort them out, understand their psychoses, try and understand their behavioural development, and try and make them interacting condos.
Presenter asks
9:44Your father Daniel ran a tyre company and you described him as complex. Why was he complex?
My dad was a really interesting man. He was hugely intelligent, very interested in music. He was a very sensitive man. And he never quite fulfilled all his dreams in life. I think that early on he wanted to become an actor. … I never really spoke to him about it, it wasn't the sort of thing you would have discussed with your father, but I think deep down that is definitely the case. … He always felt that there was somebody else underneath trying to break free.
Presenter asks
20:25You had a life-changing moment at a conference at Oxford University. What happened?
There was an American professor there called Tom Cade. And he was talking about the work they were doing on the conservation of falcons. And he said on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, there is a kestrel. And he showed a picture of this bird. And he said, 'There's only four known individuals left, and it's going to become extinct, not because it can't be saved, but because we can't find the right people to go out and work with it and work with the politics of the country.' And I thought to myself, my gosh. I can do that.
The keepsakes
The book
The Collected Works of Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
I can sit there in the evening as the sun is going down, and read Dylan Thomas, and think about another phase of my life when I was living in Wales.
The luxury
I could enjoy looking at the wildlife and the birds, but also helped me find food.
Presenter asks
33:33How did the sceptics who said you wouldn't manage it affect you emotionally?
It affected me very deeply actually. It was something that took me a long time to come to terms with. I used to come back to Britain about once a year and I used to stay with my mum. And I remember I'd come back and I'd be totally exhausted, mentally and physically drained, and would just essentially have to spend a few months recuperating.
Presenter asks
38:17Why did you bring back giant tortoises to neighbouring islands?
The islands had become degraded because there were rabbits and goats on them. We got rid of those. … And then we found out that although some species were coming back, like the palm trees, a lot of plants were disappearing. … So we looked back at the history of the islands and found out that historically it had giant tortoises, but the giant tortoises were extinct. … And so I said, well, we've got to look at the tortoises and see how they fitted in. … We did some experiments … and we found that … when the tortoises started to feed on the fruits, they passed the seeds through the body, and then a few months later all these young ebonies started to grow. … It took me twenty years to convince the Powers that Be that we should put tortoises on Round Island.
Presenter asks
46:30Do you sometimes wonder whether it was worth it, given the physical and mental toll?
Of course it's worth it, yes, and I enjoy that. I look back on my life and there's nothing I really regret. Some things I would have maybe done a bit differently, but we're not going to achieve huge things unless we actually do put up with some discomfort of some form or another. … We've saved a few species and it's a starting point and of course it's been worth it. And whenever I go to Mauritius and I see Mauritius kestrels in the Black River gorges or pink pigeons flying over the forest, I feel quite emotional. It's been a wonderful journey and we've achieved a great deal.
“What's really important is you actually have to empathize with the birds, to be able to think like the birds.”
“I thought to myself, my gosh. I can do that.”
“That was one of the most moving experiences of my life where I had this bird that just came and sat there.”
“To be able to walk in the forest of Mauritius and see a Mauritius kestrel or a pink pigeon is such a magical, magical experience beyond beyond money, beyond price.”
“I look back on my life and there's nothing I really regret.”