Background
Currie was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa.
Currie was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in African languages (he speaks Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans) from the University of Cape Town. A Master of Science in Environmental Management from Middlesex University. And worked for over a decade in Africa as a wildlife and birding tour guide.
Currie started birdwatching around the age of seven, becoming enamored of the power and beauty of birds after witnessing a black eagle swoop down and grab a rock hyrax right in front of him. From 2004 to 2007, Currie was the managing director of the Africa Foundation, a nonprofit working to protect rural lands across Africa. Currie consulted on and provided footage for the 2011 film The Big Year, a comedy about a bird-spotting competition, starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.
In 2012, he produced a four-part series on the birds of Botswana for the Botswana Tourism Organization.
He contributes to the American Birding Association’s blog.
