Saba Douglas-Hamilton, the acclaimed elephant conservationist and wildlife TV presenter of This Wild Life and Big Cat Diaries, comes to the Wyvern on April 17 for an evening of animal stories and intimate behind the scenes tales of life in Kenya with her young family. Tickets cost from £16.50 from swindontheatres.co.uk

Q: You grew up on the savannahs of East Africa. Did that influence your decision to run Elephant Watch Camp in Samburu? What are your happiest memories?

A: My sister and I grew up between Lake Manyara National park in Tanzania where my father was doing his pioneering research on the social behaviour of wild elephants, and our grandparents farm in Naivasha, Kenya, that was our mother’s family home.

When we got to schooling age (about 7) we were sent to a little school in Nairobi, called The Banda. It was wonderful because we occasionally had lions on the rugby pitch that had escaped from Nairobi national park!

When I was 10 my father moved to Uganda just after Idi Amin had been deposed to work as an Honourary Warden and try to save what was left of the elephants in Queen Elizabeth, Kidepo and Murchison Falls National Parks. My mum, sister and I would visit at half term and holidays. Our base was at Murchison (Kabalega) in a tiny cottage that overlooked the Nile where the Queen Mother had once stayed. Just below us in the river lived a pod of hippos, and spread along the banks were enormous Nile crocodiles. It was all very basic and my mum used to shove safari chairs into the open doorways at night to keep prowling hyenas away from our food.

In our childish innocence it was hugely exciting

I think if you grow up being exposed to very different environments it has a profound effect on you. Most importantly it helps you to see beyond your immediate neighbourhood, and to have a curiosity about the world.

Q: Is it difficult raising a family, running a safari camp and trying to protect elephants?

A: Not really, I was going a bit mad being a mum in the suburbs, especially after my twins were born. My life pre-kids was very adventurous and mostly in wild places, as was my husband’s, so we were both pining for a bit of wilderness.

Family life in Samburu is pretty similar to normal life elsewhere. You have to make meals, brush teeth, figure out day-care, read bedtime stories, convince the kids to have a bath! It’s just set in a slightly different context.

And while our kids have no problems feeding warthogs or giraffes by hand but they are absolutely terrified of dogs!

Q: Elephants are pretty complex and extraordinary creatures. What do love about them most?

Elephants are special because they are highly intelligent, sentient creatures that share much in common with us. They are self-aware, feel complex emotions like empathy and compassion, and even have a sense of their own mortality, all of which suggests a kind of consciousness that is similar to our own. They are sensitive, loving, and humorous, and at times real drama queens, but on the whole are always doing something interesting in relation to one other. What appeals to me most is that they are social, immersed in a web of complex relationships. The more you get to know them as individuals, the more you understand that each elephant has its own unique personality and character, is defined by its life experiences, and relies heavily on the elephants it knows for love and support. All of which is very similar to humans.

Q: Do think encouraging travellers to go on safaris will help keep poachers at bay?

A: Tourism is absolutely critical for conservation as it brings desperately needed cash into wildlife areas, which helps keep things going. Anyone who loves animals should come out to Kenya to see wild animals in the flesh as it’s one sure way of helping to save them.

Right now, we urgently need people to show their love and concern for wildlife by coming to visit the protected areas and national parks of Kenya. Eco-tourism brings desperately-needed funds to wildlife areas that helps keep things going. Thanks to a slew of bad news coming out of Africa - Ebola, terrorist attacks etc - one of the first casualties has been the wildlife. Without tourist dollars conservancies are unable to support the people who've given their land over to wildlife, and national parks and protected areas struggle to pay salaries or put fuel in anti-poaching vehicles so the wildlife suffers as a result.

MUST USE THIS PAR

Four nights at Saba's Elephant Watch Camp costs from £2,815 per person, including internal return flights from Nairobi, four nights’ full board accommodation and safari activities. Contact Aardvark Safaris at www.aardvarksafaris.co.uk or 01980 849160