James Currie – Biography

A life-long wildlife enthusiast, elephant expert and native of South Africa, James Currie works for Great Plains Conservation as their Head of Sales & New Development for the Americas. James also hosted the popular birding TV show, Nikon’s Birding Adventures, for 10 seasons on Discovery Channel’s Destination America and NBC. He currently hosts a wildlife TV show called A WILD Connection and produced the multiple award-winning documentary on elephants Last of the Big Tuskers in 2018.

As well as hosting a National Geographic 24-part video lecture series on birding and another on African Safaris, he hosted the popular action-birding show “Aerial Assassins” on National
Geographic WILD, aired in the United States and worldwide in 2012 and appeared as himself in the reality birding show, “Twitchers” that aired on the National Geographic Channel in 2014. He has led professional wildlife and birding tours for 20 years and his passion for birding, wildlife and remote cultures has taken him to nearly every corner of the globe. James has appeared
as a special guest on various TV shows and radio, including Martha Stewart Radio, and WGN and has been the subject of several newspaper articles including the Wall Street Journal, The Palm Beach Post and the Orlando Sentinel.
James filmed for, consulted for and provided footage for the 2011 Hollywood birding movie, “The Big Year”, starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.

James Currie is a highly sought-after public speaker and has spoken to sold-out audiences at various venues including the prestigious Explorers Club in New York City, The G2 Gallery in Los Angeles, The National Audubon headquarters in New York City, the Miami Zoo, the annual Educational Travel Conference and The Adventure and Travel Expos.

He is an expert in the fields of sustainable development and environmental management, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in African Languages and a Masters degree in Sustainable Environmental Management. His dissertation received a distinction and has been used as a model for assessing the relationships between wildlife areas and local communities. James presented his dissertation to the Icelandic Government in 2001. One of his passions is forging links between local communities, wildlife and international travelers. From 2004-2007 James worked
as the Managing Director of Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization that directs its efforts towards the upliftment of communities surrounding wildlife areas in Africa. He has extensive experience in African wildlife, including walking dangerous game on foot. His first book, When Eagles Roar was published in late 2014 and details his life as an African game ranger and birding guide. In late 2007, James immigrated to the United States with his American wife and three kids and he currently resides in West Palm Beach, Florida.