Exclusive Interview With Bertie Gregory, National Geographic’s Next-Gen Explorer

Get to know the filmmaker bringing Earth’s wildest stories to Disney+

In his journeys through subtropical deserts, the Arctic Circle, and the depths of the ocean, Bertie Gregory has captured stunning moments of wildlife thriving in its natural habitat. In his latest documentary special, Cheetahs Up Close, Bertie travels to Tanzania on a mission to film the world’s fastest land animals and learn more about the challenges they face. We sat down with the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning explorer to learn more about his latest series, past projects, and passions.

Watch The Cheetahs Up Close with Bertie Gregory Trailer

Exclusive Interview: Meet Bertie Gregory

Note: This interview was edited for clarity, focus, and brevity. 

To many nature lovers, you have a dream job. How did you get into this line of work and land your big break?

I have been obsessed with wildlife since I was really small, and I think that's because my family are all into water sports. I grew up surfing, sailing, and spending time in the sea getting cold, wet, and salty. I think when you spend a lot of time out in nature you gain an appreciation for it and I got comfortable with being uncomfortable in nature which is a big part of my job.

I became interested in the wildlife where I lived, just west of London, in a town called Reading. The wildlife wasn't particularly charismatic on a global standard, but I thought it was amazing and I spent a lot of time creeping up on badgers, kingfishers, and deer, taking pictures of them. That was a great way to channel my obsession and I was lucky enough to win some young wildlife photography competitions. At one of the awards ceremonies I met Steve Winter, who’s “the David Beckham” of wildlife photography. He was looking for an assistant, I said the right thing, and he offered me a job. 12 years later I’m still lucky enough to be working for National Geographic and am very grateful.

Can you share any funny stories from your journey and career so far?

I was on my first assignment for National Geographic assisting Steve on a leopard story for the magazine and Nat Geo Wild, the TV channel. It was my first week, we were in South Africa filming leopards, and I was desperate to do a good job. This was when drones had become commercially available and they gave me one and said, learn to fly it and get some behind the scenes video of Steve in action. So I had Steve and his guide, Doc, drive up and down this road in their safari car a few times and I followed the car with the drone. As I was just learning, when they slowed down to go over a big bump, I kept going and managed to smash the drone into the car. The windows were open so it hit the back of the car and flew right past Steve, nearly taking his head off. The drone smashed into the floor and I thought, my National Geographic dream was over, I nearly just killed my boss, I'm going to be on the next flight home! But fortunately Steve has a bizarre sense of humor, found the whole thing hilarious, and said, “you made short work of that thing” and laughed it off. Since then, I've gotten better at flying drones and I haven't hit any cars at high speed.

That's really funny because you use drones for everything now, don't you?

Totally, yeah.

What do you love most about working with Nat Geo? Do you have a favorite project, trip, or scene captured?

The key to filming wildlife anywhere in the world is working with good people, local guides, scientists, camera people, sound recordists, or whoever. We work in these amazing teams that feel like little families. In terms of a favorite project, my favorites are what I’ve done most recently because it's fresh in my mind, so I’ll say Cheetahs Up Close. That was really special to be part of because cheetahs are such awesome animals. I think lots of people might think they're quite familiar with cheetahs, as they're in our pop culture as the world's fastest land animal. But I learned a lot that I hope surprises viewers, in terms of how challenging cheetahs’ lives are and how we can help them.

You've traveled to incredible places for your documentaries, what drew you to focus on cheetahs in Tanzania for Cheetahs Up Close?

I've always wanted to make a film about cheetahs and my friend Tom Walker, a wildlife cameraman, has been bugging me to make one. We've worked together on a number of different shows, including the Animals Up Close killer whale episode in Antarctica. Tom is a gyro-stabilized ground-based angles camera specialist and my specialty is drones aerial angles. These camera styles work really well to capture very fast animals and obviously no land animal is faster than a cheetah, so that combination lent itself perfectly to telling their story.

How did Cheetahs Up Close compare to your other filming experiences?

Oh, it was rubbish, really boring (laughs). No, it was incredible! Cheetahs are such cool animals. What surprised me was, everyone knows that the cheetah is the world's fastest land animal, but I think because of that I assumed that their hunting strategy was to find a gazelle, run really fast over a very short distance, catch up with it, and done, end of hunt. The reality is they have different hunting styles and how they hunt is dictated by the family they're in. If they have tiny little cubs, those cubs are very vulnerable, so they hunt in a very secretive, efficient way, running very fast and hunting small prey. If they’re in a male coalition, when male cheetahs bond together, they’re incredibly powerful because males are bigger than the females and there's three of them working together. So suddenly they’re capable of taking down really big prey that you might expect only a lion could take down. If they work in a team with other big animals, they have three big mouths to feed and they hunt quite often. It was really interesting to see how the family they’re in determines how they hunt and the short sprint is not the only way.

You teamed up with scientists and local communities for this show. What did you learn from working alongside them and how do you hope your series impacts conservation efforts?

I learned from scientists that picking up cheetah poo might be key to saving them. That was definitely a surprise! The scientist we worked with collects the poo, extracts the DNA, and analyzes it. It's a great way to study cheetahs because it's non-invasive, you don't need to put a collar on them. He's trying to figure out how connected or disconnected the cheetah population is as human development increases between the protected areas. 

I also learned that it’s important to figure out how to increase the connectivity between protected areas for the cheetah. A key part of protecting cheetahs is making sure they're looked after when they're inside protected areas. I assumed that if a cheetah is inside a protected area then it's protected, you know? But the reality is, wildlife tourism is booming, and I will be the first to say that if managed correctly, it is a brilliant thing because it gives these animals an economic value that is non-extractive. Meaning that they're worth a lot more alive than dead.

That said, if managed incorrectly, we can love these animals to death, and cheetahs are particularly sensitive to badly managed wildlife tourism. Lots of people, when they go on safari, want to see lions, cheetahs, and hyenas. Now, if you surround a pride of lions with vehicles all day, that’s not good, but it's not nearly as much of a problem as it is for cheetahs, because lions are mostly nocturnal. When the sun sets and the vehicles leave, the lions are free to do what they do best. Whereas cheetahs are really sensitive to other predators and at night when lions and hyenas are active, cheetahs hunker down and hide, then in the daytime is when they need to do their cheetah-y things. But of course, that’s when humans are active in terms of tourism, so surrounding vehicles around cheetahs in the daytime is a huge problem. That was a really interesting learning point and I hope when people watch Cheetahs Up Close they see how much of an impact humans have and how we can make sure that impact is positive.

Looking back on your career and at the future, what do you hope people take away from all your projects?

Most importantly, I hope they fall in love with the natural world and see how amazing wildlife is. I hope it makes them aware of the challenges wildlife faces and that they also see that there is hope. I think our world is so broken, divided, and full of doom and gloom at the moment. It's very easy for that to be pretty overwhelming, especially when it comes to the natural world and feeling kind of helpless. But you can make a difference, one of the best ways is to help make our planet wilder.

Whatever land you have control of, whether a little corner in a tiny apartment, if you're a CEO or a politician, whatever the scale of impact you have, make that place a bit wilder. Plant some plants for local pollinators, plant a tree, put up a bird box. These things might seem like small actions, but if we all did that, then our planet would be a much wilder place. Looking after wildlife isn't just something we should do because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, we need a wild planet to all be healthy.

How did Bertie start working with National Geographic?

Bertie’s wildlife work earned him the titles of Scientific Exploration Society Zenith Explorer of the year and National Geographic Young Explorer. With these grants, he set his sights on filming a pack of coastal wolves on Vancouver Island, leading to his first solo project commissioned by National Geographic.

Since then, Bertie has adventured around the world as the host of a variety of National Geographic wildlife documentaries, including Emmy-winning Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory, Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory, and Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory. His National Geographic online docuseries Wild_Life won two Webby Awards and the Best Presenter Award at the Jackson Hole Film Festival. Bertie’s latest series, Cheetahs Up Close, is streaming on Disney+ in 2026. In 2025, he was named Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year.

More About Cheetahs Up Close

What is Cheetahs Up Close about?

The upcoming series follows Bertie Gregory to the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, East Africa, as he tracks down cheetahs who’ve gathered there to hunt during the great wildebeest migration. Bertie explores the cheetahs’ family and social dynamics, observing a mother with her cubs and a team of young males as they hunt. Over the course of the series, he also examines threats the cheetahs face from humans and other predators.

How was Cheetahs Up Close made?

To keep up with the notoriously high-speed animals as they chase prey, Bertie uses truck-mounted gyro-stabilized cameras and drones. Scientists also join him, collecting data to help understand the pressures the cheetahs face. To put the research into action, Bertie works with local communities to plan land use in ways that support both humans and wildlife.

When can you stream Cheetahs Up Close on Disney+?

Cheetahs Up Close is now available on Disney+ as of January 2, 2026.

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More Bertie Gregory Shows To Stream On Disney+

Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory

Bertie Gregory travels the world, capturing extraordinary moments from animals' daily lives. Armed with state-of-the-art tech, he and his team brave extreme conditions to reveal the challenges these animals endure. Animals Up Close with Bertie Gregory also highlights the moments the crew face while adapting to unpredictable wildlife in remote environments where filming rarely goes as planned.

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Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory

Bertie heads to South Africa for his most audacious mission yet. The wild waters here are a hotspot for one of the ocean’s most famous and feared predators, the great white shark. Diving in the shallows without a cage, Bertie attempts to film these huge sharks. By entering their domain, he discovers the challenges they face on our rapidly changing planet.

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Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory

Follow the escapades of National Geographic Explorer Bertie Gregory as he travels the world capturing extraordinary footage of wild animals. Using a combination of technical wizardry, secret fieldcraft, and extreme perseverance, he and his team attempt to overcome challenges and dangers so they can approach wildlife on its own terms.

Add Epic Adventures with Bertie Gregory to Watchlist

More Bertie Gregory Wildlife Documentaries

• Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory

• Secrets of the Penguins

Discover more from National Geographic on Disney+ in our article on Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember.