Interests
Sharks in British seas have always been one of his main interests. In 1999 Richard sponsored the Shark Angling Club in Looe to restart their shark tagging program. In 2005 he ran a Blue Shark pilot project off Cornwall which ended with him launching the first shark cage diving operation in Britain in 2006. He then carried on offering free diving with blue sharks in 2007. He had proved that this type of shark eco-tourism was viable and then stepped away and others followed his lead in the Westcountry and South Wales.
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, Orca in 2019 and Pangolins, Scales of Injustice in 2021.
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 early 2018 Richard started work on an investigative documentary film called Lions, Bones & Bullets which was released in 2021. The film attracted global interest and won a ‘best film’ award in the Educational/Informational Category at the Jackson Wild Media Awards in 2021, and was also second at the same awards to Sir David Attenborough in the ‘Presenter Led’ category. Since its release the film has been nominated for several awards and has won “Best Documentary” on various occasions. Lions, Bones & Bullets is playing a part in supporting the law-making process in South Africa which proposes an end to lion farming, and is increasing awareness around the world of the plight of lions.
Pangolins are the world’s most trafficked wild mammals and Richard’s book, Pangolins, Scales of Injustice, provides an insight into the illegal trafficking of Africa’s pangolins to Far Eastern consumers. Richard’s pangolin book is available from all major internet sellers like Amazon, Waterstones, NHBS or from our own distributors which can be found in the Book Sales section of this website.
