Ben Hoare

Science writer and author, and editorial consultant, BBC Wildlife

Ben Hoare is a wildlife writer and editor, and proud to be an all-round ‘nature nerd’. He was features editor at BBC Wildlife magazine from 2008 to 2018, and after that its editorial consultant. Ben writes about seasonal natural-history highlights in every issue of the magazine, and also contributes longer conservation stories. His interviews of everyone’s hero Sir David Attenborough remain a career highlight. When not working for magazines, Ben writes illustrated natural-history books for children – the kind of books he adored looking at as a kid. Several have been international bestsellers, no doubt because his two daughters read and test everything first. Ben lives in rural Somerset, UK, with owls and dormice in the garden, and is a keen birder who spends as much time as possible exploring outdoors.

Recent articles by Ben Hoare

Reality Check | Are hedgehogs really going extinct in the UK?

Hedgehog numbers have sharply declined in the last two decades. Are they at risk of disappearing from the UK forever?

The see-through frog and 6 other transparent animals that are stranger than fiction

Welcome to nature’s menagerie of transparency.

Here's looking at poo: the weird and wonderful species that look like faeces

What’s better than hiding from a predator? Looking like something they wouldn’t want to eat in the first place.

Reality Check | Can feeding wildlife do more harm than good?

In October, a handmade sign went viral. It claimed that ducks were starving because people were no longer giving them bread, due to concerns that it could make them ill. But is feeding ducks and other birds a harmless pastime, or should we leave them to fend for themselves?

Flamboyant animals | 7 of nature’s most colourful show offs

While many creatures adapt to blend into their environment, there are some who show no such regard for convention.

Sir David Attenborough at 90

On the eve of his 90th birthday, we talk to Sir David Attenborough about his illustrious career and spills the beans on his worst ever experience in the natural world.