Heinz Sielmann

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Heinz Sielmann (b. June 2, 1917 in Rheydt [now Mönchengladbach], Germany - d. October 6, 2006 in Munich) was a world renowned wildlife photographer, zoologist and documentary filmmaker.

He made his first film in 1938. His feature film Zimmerleute des Waldes (UK-title: Woodpecker) about woodpeckers was a huge success in the United Kingdom when broadcast by the BBC at the behest of David Attenborough. It earned Sielmann the nickname "Mr. Woodpecker".

His work includes award-winning movies like Galapagos - Dream Island in the Pacific, Lords of the Forest (better known in the USA under its title Masters of the Congo Jungle and was narrated by Orson Welles), Vanishing Wilderness, and The Mystery of Animal Behavior.

All these movies became worldwide successes. During the collaboration on some National Geographic wildlife documentaries in the late 1960s he met Walon Green with whom he worked as additional photographer on the Academy Award-winning documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle about insects in 1971. Sielmann was also cinematographer on the American wildlife documentary, Birds do it..., Bees do it... in 1974.

In 1994 he has established the Heinz Sielmann-Stiftung, which has successfully reintroduced beavers and otters in Germany. Another goal of this foundation is to make children aware of nature conservation.

His series Expeditionen ins Tierreich (Expeditions into the Animal Kingdom) belongs to the most popular animal documentaries in German television.

Sielmann died in his sleep, aged 89, surrounded by his family in Munich and has been buried in the German town of Duderstadt. He is survived by his wife, Inge.