Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine March 2014 | Page 109

Explore | Interview

© Cholatse

One of my most frightening
experiences was on Rinca
Island, Komodo National
Park. It is one of my favourite
places in the whole world.

107

I focused on deadly creatures because
humans have a fascination with predators.
One of the highlights of my career was
seeing the untamed wilderness of Papua
New Guinea and presenting BBC’s Lost
Land of the Volcano expedition.”
Steve has spent recent years travelling the
world to film a groundbreaking children’s
series for the BBC called Deadly 60 in which
he tracks down the world’s most dangerous
beasts. As its wildlife expert he is a hugely
popular television presenter, willing to give
anything a try. He is comfortable in the great
outdoors, seeking out unexplored parts of
the planet, including Indonesia.
In his travels, Backshall became conversant
in the local Indonesian language, drank blood
with uncontacted tribes, nearly got caught
in fatal crossfire in riots in East Timor and
came ‘nose-to-nose’ with Komodo dragons.
Highlights include witnessing spectacular
birds-of-paradise alongside indigenous
marsupials and crocodiles, experiencing
world-class scuba-diving in Sulawesi,
meeting a reticulated python and ‘eyeing
up’ an Indonesian babirusa or deer-hog on
the slopes of one of Indonesia’s 127
dangerously active volcanoes.
“One of my most frightening experiences was
on Rinca Island, Komodo National Park. It is
one of my favourite places in the whole world
because I feel teleported back into prehistory,
where the landscape looks as if it has been
ravaged by dragons’ claws. Two years ago,
we were filming the biggest concentration
of dragons on Rinca. They tend to sit around
looking for scraps, so we baited them with
a chunk of ‘old goat meat’ and led them
towards the camera crew. Driven by the
scent and smell of blood they rapidly started
hunting on the ground before surrounding
us. It was terrifying. Luckily we had sticks
to push them away and the lead dragon
discovered our goat bait up a tree and
led the others away.”
Steve’s achievements do not lie solely in his
successful television career. He has published
a number of books, including Looking for
Adventure and Predators, as well as Venom,
The Rough Guide to: Indonesia, Southeast Asia,
First-time Asia, the Wildlife Adventurer’s Guide

and Expeditions. Backshall’s book Looking
for Adventure charts his progress from a boy
obsessed with PNG artefacts to National
Geographic’s ‘Adventurer in Residence’.
Readers can enjoy the story of his many
expeditions in New Guinea, including
recollections about his childhood and
how he got into television.
“I plan to write three books this year,
including the fourth book in The Falcon
Chronicles series. The first in the series was
Tiger Wars and is about a boy who escapes
from a mystical animal clan and goes on
to save tigers. I will also be writing the
accompanying book to the new Deadly
Pole to Pole series – going out on the CBBC
channel every Tuesday at 5.30pm. Antarctica
is the only continent I haven’t visited so far,
because it’s very expensive and you need to
stay for several months to witness the
leopard seals, orcas and penguins.”
Steve is one of the busiest presenters on
television, mainly working for the BBC’s
Natural History Unit. He has had his own
season of programmes on Eden Television
Channel, alongside legend Sir David
Attenborough. Steve also recently filmed
a new BBC series, Supergiant Animals,
which went out in September 2013,
and Swimming with Monsters, a new
series for Discovery Channel.

Backshall filming
on location at Cholatse
mountain in Nepal.

A naturalist and
the president of several
wildlife charities,
Backshall is passionate
about animals.