Bio
Charlotte Uhlenbroek (born May 1967) is a British zoologist and television presenter best known for hosting a variety of wildlife programmes including Congo's Secret Chimps (2001), Talking with Animals (2002) and The Secret Life of Primates, in 2009.
Uhlenbroek was born in London, but spent only 10 days on British soil before her parents moved to Ghana. Her Dutch father was an agricultural specialist with the UN who took his family round the world with him. Her mother is English.
Between the ages of 5-14 Charlotte lived in Kathmandu, Nepal where her love of animals developed. Her family kept an extraordinary menagerie of animals - cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs and parrots - many of them 'rescued' by Charlotte.
She used to wander the streets of Kathmandu trying to rescue stray dogs. To Charlotte, Nepal will always be a special place.
Her interest in exotic animals was furthered through a degree in Zoology and Psychology, followed by a PhD in Zoology at the University of Bristol.
After university, Charlotte spent four years in the forests of Gombe, Tanzania, studying the communication of wild chimpanzees, under the wing of world-famous Jane Goodall.
She lived in a tiny hut on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and spent her days with the chimps in the forest.
Charlotte's first appearance on the screen was in the BBC Natural History Unit's series Dawn to Dusk presented by Jonathan Scott, where she was in an episode on Gombe and its chimps. Her talent recognised, she went on to present BBC2's Chimpanzee Diary as part of the Animal Zone (1998-9).
Cousins screened in 2000 and was Charlotte's first big series for BBC1. In 2001, she presented Congo's Secret Chimps for BBC2's Wild zone and in 2002 she presented a major BBC1 series on animal communication, Talking with Animals, and wrote an accompanying book.
In autumn 2003 Charlotte explored the rainforests of South-east Asia, Amazonia and Africa in Jungle.
Charlotte's greatest nightmare is killer bees - she has been chased through the African jungle by swarms of them. She's wary of crocodiles too - "you can't negotiate with them!" Her favourite animals are elephants and, of course, chimps.
Charlotte has written several articles for newspapers and magazines. She supports various organisations including the Ape Alliance, Fauna and Flora International, World Development Movement and Compassion in World Farming.