Charlotte Uhlenbroek

Dr. Charlotte Uhlenbroek, PhD., FSB was born in London, but spent only 10 days on British soil before her parents moved to Ghana. This is where her journey, travelling and learning about the natural world, began.

After studying Zoology and Psychology at Bristol University, whilst also working in the BBC natural history unit, an opportunity arose to run a chimpanzee conservation project for Jane Goodall in Burundi. After spending eight months in Burundi she went on to work in Gombe National Park in Tanzania where she spent four years living in a tiny hut on the lakeshore studying chimpanzee communication.

This led onto the opportunity to present BBC series including Dawn to Dusk and Chimpanzee Diaries. In the series Cousins, Uhlenbroek introduced viewers to her extended primate family and presented Congo’s Secret Chimps for BBC2’s Wild Zone, and the acclaimed Talking with Animals, a series that listened in on the communications of creatures as diverse as cuttlefish and wolves. In Jungle, Uhlenbroek went back to the place she calls her second home to explore the world’s rainforests, from the tips of the canopy to the dark, inhospitable forest floor. Among the Apes for Channel 5 saw Uhlenbroek living with different groups of primates.

Uhlenbroek’s other screen encounters feature sea turtles, gorillas, lemurs, and a 20-part series called Safari School plus Countrywise, Countryfile and The Adventurers Guide to Britain in the UK. Amazingly she has still found time to write the books "Animal Life," "Talking with Animals" and "Jungle" as well as writing numerous articles for newspapers and magazines.

She supports Animal Aid and their campaign against primate experiments, stating: "I have yet to hear a sufficiently compelling scientific argument that justifies the suffering inflicted on primates in medical research." She is a supporter of many animal-orientated charities, including Fauna and Flora International, the Great Apes Survival Project, the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre, Compassion in World Farming, The Ape Alliance, World Development Movement, Free Tibet, and the Jane Goodall Institute.