'We Need To Ensure Our Beloved Dogs Are Cared For'

Campaigns, challenges and charities; Ben Fogle talks about the things, and the animals, that matter to him.

- Helena Cartwright

Ben Fogle came to the nation’s attention in 2000 when he appeared on one of TV’s first reality series. Set on the remote, uninhabited Scottish island of Taransay, Castaway saw 36 people tasked with creating a sustainable, self sufficient community in a year.

There was no winner or prize at the end, but for Ben the reward came in the form of a successful career as a television presenter and adventurer.

The programmes Ben has presented have seen him swim with Nile crocodiles, row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic, run 260km across the Sahara and brave temperatures of -40°C during a gruelling 495-mile race to the South Pole.

Back at home, his supportive family consists of wife Marina – who he married in 2006 after meeting in a park walking their respective dogs – son Ludo, seven, and daughter Iona, five.

As a dog owner and son of a vet, animals have always been a priority to Ben. He has a black Labrador, called Storm, and is an ambassador for the World Wide Fund for Nature, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and patron of The Royal Parks Foundation.

What projects are you working on at the moment?

I’m writing my ninth book, called English, which covers all the quintessential things that define being English, like wax jackets, Marmite, Wimbledon tennis and so on. I’m also filming another series of New