Saba Douglas-Hamilton (1970 - ) has recently (2004?) joined the
ranks of BBC natural history presenters and considers her work in TV as a
blessing, combined as it is with her role in conservation.
Saba, whose name means seven and was given to her by local African tribesmen,
was born in Kenya at 7pm on 7 June 1970, the seventh grandchild of the family.
Her father is respected zoologist Iain Douglas-Hamilton, co-author of Among
the Elephants and Battle for the Elephants with her mother, Oria
(author of The Elephant Family Book).
Growing up surrounded by elephants, Saba spent her early years running wild
in the African bush. With her sister, Dudu, she would track elephants, climb
waterfalls, catch snakes and scale the rooftops of the local farm buildings in
the company of their adventurous wildlife expert father.
Saba went to school in the UK at the United World College of the Atlantic in
Wales, and went on to take a degree in Anthropology at St Andrews University.
She wrote her thesis on 'Love and Sexuality amongst the Bajuni of Kiwaiyu
Island, Kenya'.
Her first job for the Natural History Unit was to spend several days living
with a group of wild chimps taking nothing but the clothes on her back and a
hammock. Along with Alastair Fothergill, Saba was utterly dependent on the
chimps for finding food and water and it was a remarkable experience. Following
this was a two-part documentary for the Wild
strand, about the elephants which are so close to Saba's heart. She went back
to revisit old haunts in Namibia for the filming of Namibia's Desert Giants.
At the start of the year, she and Dudu filmed and produced The Miracle
Lioness - a story about a most unusual lioness who adopted and loved a baby
oryx.
In 2002, Saba joined Simon King and Jonathan Scott to present Big
Cat Diary and made several other programmes for the Natural History
Unit, such as Escape the Elephant. In 2003, Saba returned with several
new searches for some of the world's best loved animals, before revisiting the
Mara's big cats for Big
Cat Week in 2004.
Committed to the conservation of Africa's wildlife and its indigenous
peoples, Saba is passionate about her home country and the wonders it contains.
She lives in Kenya and is a trustee of her father's charity, Save the Elephants.
Yesterday, Saba Douglas-Hamilton, a member of one of Scotland's
oldest noble families, launched herself into a new role, trying to stop
Kenya, the country she loves, spiralling further into tribal violence.
With her mother, Oria, she organised a mass flower-laying ceremony to
remember the dead. Standing out from the crowds in a simple white dress,
she led a group of female human rights activists as they placed flowers
at a quiet spot in Nairobi.
