Children are the future of conservation, and inspiring them to care for the natural world is more important than ever. 10 year old Leo from Leo’s Animal Planet is doing just that. Through his fun, educational, and animal-filled videos, Leo shares his passion for wildlife with young viewers, encouraging them to learn more about the creatures that share our planet. His kid-friendly content is packed with cool facts and conservation messages that aim to inspire the next generation of nature lovers. We sat down with Leo and his mum to talk about his journey as a young content creator, what drives his passion for animals, and his advice for kids who want to follow in his footsteps.
I’m Leo, I’m 10 and 3 years ago during lockdown, I created a YouTube channel with my mum called Leo’s Animal Planet, to raise awareness for endangered animals. I like to call it wildlife storytelling. I use various mediums, songs, videos, art, podcast, fashion. I donate 100% of the money I earn to animal charities. We raised approximately £10,000 so far. I also have a rewilding project in my neighbourhood in South London, where I plant wildflowers, make nest boxes etc
Wildlife and nature have always been my passion. I’m half French and I do a lot of surfing and bodyboarding in the Mediterranean sea. Lockdown made me more aware of how I wouldn’t be able to survive without nature and the sea. During lockdown, my dad set up the tent in our flat in London and we watched all the David Attenborough’s shows and all the Whale wars episodes every night. These shows truly inspired me to start my channel. Making the videos with my mum was a way to escape being stuck at home. We weren’t able to travel or go out much, so we imagined travelling all around the world saving animals like David Attenborough or Captain Paul Watson. If you watch my first videos, I’m pretending to be in the Bahamas saving sharks or in the savannah looking after cheetahs.
He’s an absolute selfless living legend…and as he says, if the oceans die, we die. What is so special about Captain Paul Watson and the Neptune Pirates is that they are the first ones that truly said “enough talking, let’s act!”. A lot of us talk about wildlife and the environment and that’s a great thing but only a few put themselves in difficult situations facing poachers and hunters. These are the true heroes in my opinion.
If you look at space, our planet is the best! It’s the animal planet. And everything and everyone on this blue planet is interdependent and working together to keep us healthy and happy. This is why we need to save wildlife and the oceans. Our future depends on it. Without them, there won’t be us. But even if there was, would a world without animals be a world worth living in? Technology is great but it can’t replace everything…
You can plant wildflowers to help pollinators in your neighbourhood. You can make nest boxes for small birds. You can reduce how much plastic you use. You can go on beach cleans. You can choose what you eat, what clothes you buy, how you travel…you can choose what you watch on social media as there are so many videos that are bad for wildlife. If you would like a pet, you can decide to adopt one instead of buying one and to not get a wild animal as a pet. And if you want to see wildlife, see wild animals in the wild. But most importantly, talk to everyone about how amazing animals are and how much you love them! The more loved and celebrated animals are, the more likely they will be protected for future generations.
Well there is a desert gecko in Namibia that uses fluorescence to glow in the dark and that’s very cool. I would love to go in the abyssal zone, in the Mariana Trench to look at sperm whales and giant squids too. I would love to go to Scotland to see orcas, whales and dolphins. I would also love to see pilot whales in the wild. They are one of the sweetest and most curious animals on this planet. It’s so sad that they are being hunted in various places in the world.
Perhaps my song Rewild. It’s a love letter to wildlife and nature. It also talks about the biodiversity crisis, about air, river and ocean pollution, about hunting and overfishing. I sang it live on Earth Day 2023 in Parliament Square in London (which was my birthday too) and that was pretty special. It will be released as an EP soon on Spotify and iTunes and if I make money from it, I’ll use it all to rewild my neighbourhood in South London.
Yes I would love to write soundtracks for nature documentaries or be a marine biologist. I would love to study whales and orcas languages. They have accents and dialects like us. Isn’t that amazing!? Whatever I do, protecting the oceans and saving wildlife will always be a very important part of my life.
As Leo’s Animal Planet continues to grow, so does the potential for his work to inspire a lifelong commitment to conservation in children everywhere. You can follow on Youtube below, and Instagram here.
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