Zoologist, TV presenter and author Desmond Morris dies aged 98

Zoologist, TV presenter and author Desmond Morris has died at the age of 98.

He was the face of Granada's hit Zoo Time - a nature series exploring animal behaviour which ran from 1956 to 1967.

Morris also fronted the BBC's Life In The Animal World and other documentaries for the broadcaster after starting his career with the corporation in 1965.

The Wiltshire-born author won global acclaim in 1967 for his most successful book, The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study Of The Human Animal.

Many more books followed, including The Human Zoo (1969), Manwatching (1977) and The Naked Man (1977), and he contributed to more than 90 titles during his career.

Morris followed his passion for animals after joining the Army in 1946 and completing two years of national service.

He also served as London Zoo's curator of mammals for eight years from 1959.

He began his academic career studying zoology at the University of Birmingham, and later completed a doctorate in animal behaviour at Oxford University, where he remained to study the reproductive behaviour of birds.

His son Jason said he died on Sunday, but that his father had enjoyed a "lifetime of exploration, curiosity and creativity".

"A zoologist, manwatcher, author and artist, he was still writing and painting right up until his death.

"He was a great man and an even better father and grandfather."

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