Harry Butler, TV presenter and conservationist, dies at 85

Extract from The Guardian

Naturalist and winner of national honours helped popularise environmental awareness in Australia with ABC show In The Wild

Harry Butler, left, with the BBC naturalist David Attenborough at the Museum of Western Australia in 2012. Photograph: Tony Mcdonough/AAP

Guardian Australia staff and agencies

Saturday 12 December 2015 21.23 AEDT

The Australian conservationist, TV presenter and Australian national living treasure Dr Harry Butler has died following a battle with cancer.

Butler was the 1979 Australian of the Year, an Officer of the Order of Australia 2012 and presenter of the ABC television environment show In the Wild.

Butler’s son, Trevor, told the ABC his father had been a “real fighter” who defied doctors’ prediction three times.

“He had been ill for nearly two years, but amazingly, up until three months ago, he was still messing around on the farm and driving a tractor and chopping wood,” he said.

— Mark Scott (@mscott) December 12, 2015

The death of Harry Butler. He educated the nation about the extraordinary life 'In The Wild' https://t.co/DvNQi0RAfT https://t.co/5xPITDbQLu

Trevor Butler said his father had been a “remarkable man by anyone’s standards”.

“Part of us is relieved because he’s not in pain any more. Cancer is a shocking way to die and he’s going to be with the love of his life again – that’s his deceased wife Maggie.”

The premier of Western Australia, Colin Barnett, said he knew Butler personally, and extended his sympathies to his family.

“Harry was an environmental pioneer whose dedication to conservation and nature was tireless,” Barnett said in a statement on Saturday.

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Harry Butler on Barrow Island, Western Australia, where he worked as an environmental consultant to Chevron. Photograph: Chevron PR/AAP

“There will be many people who remember tuning in to his ABC show In the Wild and who will remember him fondly.

“He was a great West Australian and a great educator to many of us about the importance of the environment.”

A species of Mulga snake, Pseudechis butleri, and a spider, Synothele butleri, are named for Butler. The National Trust of Australia included him on its list of Living Treasures.

With AAP