Stephen Leonard (born 4 September 1972 in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) is a Northern Irish

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

and television personality.

Early life

Leonard's family moved to

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

from Northern Ireland when he was six weeks old. He was educated at The King's School,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Career

Steve Leonard studied veterinary science at

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

Veterinary School. In the final year of his degree, the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

approached the college to film a group of final-year students. Originally seeing the idea of appearing on TV as "a bit of a laugh," he agreed to participate in the filming. The series, ''Vets' School'' (1996), was a huge success, and was swiftly followed by '' Vets in Practice''. He went on to present ''Vets in the Wild'' (2000–02) with

Trude Mostue Trude Mostue (born 28 March 1968) is a Norwegian veterinary surgeon and television presenter. She is best known for her appearances in the BBC documentary series ''Vet School'' in 1996, and later in the follow-up series '' Vets in Practice''. Sh ...

. He quit full-time veterinary employment and found himself travelling all over the world with the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

, filming for ''Ultimate Killers''. He travelled to places as far away as

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Filming ''Ultimate Killers'' involved

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery spec ...

s, such as tandem skydiving out of a balloon at 10,000 feet over

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, and climbing into an

eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

's eyrie in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Steve Leonard also presented ''Extreme Animals'', and ''Animal Camera'' (2004), an intimate look at the animal kingdom through cutting-edge miniature camera filming techniques. More recently, he explored the origins and

evolution of life Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

in ''

Journey of Life The album ''Journey of Life'' by German band X-Perience was released on 20 November 2000 in Germany. After the second album, ''Take Me Home'' (1998), X-Perience left their former record label WEA/Warner Music and signed at Polydor/Universal. The ...

'' and followed animal

migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

s on ''Incredible Animal Journeys''. Steve and his elder brother Tom Leonard are currently working at th
Leonard Brothers Veterinary Centre
in

Whitchurch, Shropshire Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2011 Census, the ...

, and Crewe, Cheshire. During the programme '' Return to... Vets in Practice'', shown in July 2008, Steve explained that he had decided to return to being a vet full-time, and to fit his filming commitments around his veterinary career. He has recently returned from

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

where he filmed a second series of ''

Orangutan Diary ''Orangutan Diaries'' is a nature documentary series on the BBC, which follows the lives of Bornean orangutans in the care of Lone Drøscher Nielsen, a member of the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) foundation. The program tries to detail the th ...

'' with co-presenter

Michaela Strachan Michaela Evelyn Ann Strachan (born 7 April 1966) is an English television presenter and singer. Early life Born in Ewell, Surrey, Strachan grew up in Hinchley Wood and attended Chadsworth Stage School, then Claremont Fan Court School, both in ...

. In March 2009, Steve helped launch the

Open Air Laboratories The Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) network is a UK-wide citizen science initiative that aims to get the public more involved with nature through a range of local and national projects. It aimed to make the public more interested in science through en ...

(OPAL) network soil and earthworm survey, a scheme that aimed to get the public more involved in science and nature. Leonard presented the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series ''Animal Kingdom''. Filmed in Erindi Game Reserve,

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

, the series was aired in 2011 and spanned six episodes. Steve passed his BSAVA Certificate in Small Animal Medicine in 2017 with Distinction.

Filmography

*"Big Week at the Zoo" (2018) *"Trust me, I'm a Vet" (2017) *''Panda Babies'' (2015) *''Nature's Newborns'' (2013) *''Safari Vet School'' (2012) *''Animal Kingdom'' (2011) *''

Beast Legends ''Beast Legends'' is a science fiction mini-series produced by a Toronto and Leeds based independent film company called Yap Films, Inc. It was first shown on the Canadian History Channel in the summer of 2010 and was later aired on the US SyFy Ch ...

'' (2010) *''The Hottest Place on Earth'' (2009) *''

'' (2007–09) *''Return to... Vets in Practice'' (2008) *''Sharks: Great Whites in Great Britain?'' (2006) *''Incredible Animal Journeys'' (2006) *''Journey of Life'' (2005) *''Animal Camera'' (2004) *''Steve Leonard's Search for the Loch Ness Monster'' (2003) *''Steve Leonard's Extreme Animals'' (2002) *''Steve Leonard's Ultimate Killers'' (2001–02) *''Vets in the Wild'' (2000–02) *''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

'' (1997) *'' Vets in Practice'' (1996–2000) *''Vets' School'' (1996)

References

External links

BBC - Science and Nature - Steve Leonard
*
Steve Leonard's official websiteSteve Leonard Arkive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Steve 1972 births Living people British television personalities People from Cheshire People from Enniskillen People from Lancaster, Lancashire People from Whitchurch, Shropshire British veterinarians People educated at The King's School, Chester People from County Fermanagh in health professions Mass media people from County Fermanagh