Countryfile and Animal Park favourite Hamza Yassin is fronting a new BBC documentary, describing the experience as a "privilege" and an "honour". The wildlife cameraman and presenter, a former Strictly Come Dancing champion, filmed Hamza: African Birds of Prey during an expedition across Kenya in search of some of Africa's most breathtaking and endangered birds of prey.
A deeply personal journey
The journey becomes "deeply personal" as Hamza develops bonds with both the people and wildlife he encounters along the way. Speaking to BBC Wildlife Magazine, Hamza said: "This film was an absolute dream for me. I've always been passionate about birds of prey and to be able to capture these incredible animals in Kenya was a privilege and an honour."
A synopsis for the film, set to air next weekend, reveals how Hamza ventures from the sweeping plains of the Maasai Mara to the shores of Lake Naivasha, through the ancient forests of the Kenyan coast and across the dramatic escarpments of the Rift Valley.
Meeting Kenya's raptors
Along the way, he comes face to face with a remarkable array of raptors, amongst them African fish eagles, secretary birds, martial eagles, scops owls, lappet-faced and Rüppell's vultures, and the elusive African crowned eagle. Hamza joins the devoted scientists, conservationists, rangers and local communities working relentlessly to safeguard these extraordinary birds; from tending to injured vultures and satellite-tagging young eagles to monitoring remote clifftop nesting colonies and searching for one of Africa's rarest owls, reports WalesOnline.
He witnesses both the extraordinary resilience of Kenya's birds of prey and the mounting threats they face from habitat destruction, poisoning, the illegal wildlife trade and expanding infrastructure.
Recent wildcat release
Hamza is a firm favourite on programmes such as Countryfile, and recently became visibly emotional on the Sunday evening show when he travelled to the Scottish Highlands to help release three wildcats back into their natural habitat. He took part in an ambitious conservation initiative designed to reintroduce one of Britain's rarest and most elusive predators back into the wild.
Working well into the evening, Hamza accompanied project worker Estelle Morgan to release the animals, with Hamza describing the occasion as a "once in a lifetime opportunity". Venturing into the woodland, Hamza told Estelle: "To actually get given the privilege of releasing three wild cats into the wild is something special," reported the Express.
Estelle then responded: "You know you're the first person who isn't project staff who is releasing a wildcat." Struck by the significance of the historic moment, Hamza said: "Really? That's an honour, that is an honour indeed."
Hamza: African Birds of Prey will be on BBC One on Sunday 30 August at 7pm.
