00:00You know, they are majestic, they're iconic, they're kind of recognisable, and I've been
00:06lucky enough to spend a huge amount of time over the years, so it was a bit of a no-brainer.
00:12I thought I could talk about bears, or I could just talk about big cats, but I thought, obviously,
00:17the ring of lions and tigers and bears, it just was too good to dismiss that.
00:22Why do you think us Brits have such a fascination with these animals?
00:26It's a good question. I think, you know, there will be few houses, homes around the country
00:31that do not have one bear living in them. So bears particularly have kind of worked
00:37their way into our lives like no other. Paddington bear, Winnie the Pooh, Yogi bear, there's
00:45just sort of, bears are everywhere, and probably as a wild animal, bears are probably the best
00:52represented species on the planet. And I think that's because we've always had this fascination
00:58with those animals, going way back, you know, in time when we first sort of, you know, we're
01:03living a hunter-gatherer existence and living alongside bears in, you know, even in the
01:10United Kingdom when we had bears. You know, human beings are very kind of quite a self-centred
01:14species. We kind of like to see animals sort of reflecting back at us, and I think the
01:20simple fact that bears can stand on two legs is a big kind of appeal for us, and probably
01:27always has been, because we see them like us in some way.
01:30And we've got all of those animals here in Kent at various sanctuaries. Is the wildlife
01:36of this area something you're familiar with, something that you've had the pleasure to witness and observe?
01:42No, I haven't. I mean, I sort of, I've travelled extensively around the UK, but it's always kind of
01:49been towns, cities, road systems. I seldom get the opportunity to go off-piste, and hopefully
01:58on the tour, if I can kind of get my schedule right, I'll be able to actually, because I
02:03really want to explore the different, the countryside and sort of, you know, some of the wildlife.
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