24 January 2011

Last chance to see the weird and wonderful with Mark Carwardine

Renowned conservationist, zoologist, writer, presenter and photographer Mark Carwardine will share his experiences of making the popular BBC television series ‘Last Chance to See’ when he appears at the University of Dundee next week.

Mark, who co-presented the series with former Dundee University rector Stephen Fry, will be speaking at the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre from 7.30pm on Tuesday, 1st February as part of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society's 'Inspiring People' talks programme.

During his lecture, Mark will take the audience on a highly entertaining and enlightening journey behind the scenes of the series. Last Chance to See followed the unlikely duo on six separate journeys to recreate a journey that Mark made with the late Douglas Adams 20 years before.

They journeyed from the steamy jungles of the Amazon to the ice-covered mountaintops of New Zealand and from the edge of a war zone in Central Africa to a sub-tropical paradise in the North Pacific.

Along the way, they searched for some of the weirdest, most remarkable and most endangered creatures on earth, including a large, black, sleepy animal easily mistaken for an unusually listless mud bank, a parrot with a song like Pink Floyd studio outtakes, a rhino with square lips, a dragon with deadly saliva, an animal roughly the length of a Boeing 737, and the creature most likely to emerge from the cargo doors of a spaceship.

Mark’s talk will describe their hilarious, informative and thought-provoking story as well as offering a unique insight into the disappearing world around us.

Effusing about his co-presenter, Stephen Fry said, 'Mark Carwardine will climb mountains, ford streams and penetrate steamy malaria-infested swamps just for one glimpse of an animal.

'Not only that, but he will encourage, belabour and enthuse any large, sweaty, unwilling companions who happen to be lumbering at his side wishing there were better phone signals and air conditioning available.'

Mark's Dundee presentation takes place in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund, and will take place on Tuesday, 1st February at 7.30pm in the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre, University of Dundee. Tickets, costing £8 for adults, and free of charge for students, RSGS members and under 18s, will be available from the venue on the night.

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society is an educational charity that promotes an understanding of natural environments and human societies and how they interact. For further information about RSGS or to see the full 2010-11 Talks Programme please call 01738 455050 or visit www.rsgs.org.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277