Biography

Richard Peirce has had a lifelong passion for wildlife, and sharks in particular have fascinated him all his life. He has been fortunate enough to encounter nature’s most iconic animals all over the world.

Richard is a committed wildlife conservationist who now spends all of his time on various projects either trying to contribute to the conservation of specific species. Part of the royalties from Richard’s books have been donated to Born Free, Tusk, The Sava Vet Rhino Fund and Shark Watchers.

“He founded Richard Peirce Shark Conservation in 1999 which morphed into the highly successful Shark Conservation Society in 2008 with Richard as the main expedition organiser and chairman until 2015. In 2006 he was the first person to start cage diving with blue sharks in the UK as an eco-tourist activity, and has been a strong advocate of shark eco-tourism for many years. He was one of the earliest members of The Shark Trust and then joined the board and became chairman for twelve years from which he stepped down in 2015. In late 2016 he re-joined the board of trustees of The Shark Trust.”

Interests

Sharks in British seas have always been one of his main interests. In 1999 Richard sponsored the Shark Angling Club in Looe to re-start shark tagging. In 2005 he ran a blue shark pilot project which ended with his launching the first shark cage diving in Britain in 2006.

His book ‘Sharks in British Seas‘ was first published in 2008, and was reprinted in 2011 after having sold out. Other British shark projects have included making  award winning films called Sharks in British Seas and Porbeagles in Peril, another book and film called Shark Attack Britain, and several radio, television and documentary film appearances.

“Richard is well known as a researcher of possible Great White shark encounters in British waters, and in August 2016 he published a book on this subject called ‘The UK Great White Shark Enigma’.”

African mega fauna have been a lifelong passion, and in recent years many of his books and films have raised awareness of the plight of rhinos, elephants, lions, pangolins and others.

Publishing

“Richard is a well published author and his book on rhino poaching, ‘The Poacher’s Moon’ was first published in UK in 2013, then in South Africa in 2014. This series continued with Giant Steps in 2016, Nicole in 2017, Cuddle Me, Kill Me in 2018, and Orca in 2019. 
 
Research for ‘Cuddle Me, Kill Me‘, started in late 2016, and this in-depth expose of South Africa’s captive lion breeding industry was published in mid-2018. The book tells the true story of two lions which were rescued from South Africa’s brutal predator breeding industry.  It is a searing investigation into captive lion breeding, voluntourism, cub petting, canned hunting and other uses which exploit this iconic species.
 
In the middle of 2018 work started on an investigative documentary film called Lions, Bones & Bullets which is due for release in 2020.
 
Orca is another true wildlife story which tells the tale of the clash of two top predator ocean giants, Orcas (killer whales) and Great White sharks. Orca is not just about the animals, it also introduces readers to the humans who got caught up in an epic battle for survival.
 
In 2019 Richard started writing his latest book Pangolins: Scales of Injustice. In early 2020 the novel corona virus Covid-19 was spreading across the world, and scientists found links between the new corona virus and Malayan pangolins.  Overnight these little known mammals were thrust into the global spotlight, and Richard had to amend his book to incorporate this dramatic new twist.  Pangolins: Scales of Injustice, will be published all over the world as an ‘e’ in July 2020, and as a hard book on February 20th 2021 which is World Pangolin Day.