Raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) portrait, Finland. © Peter Cairns / Wild Wonders of Europe Peter Cairns grew up in central England developing an early interest in birds from his grandfather, a keen ornithologist. Although the early part of Peter’s adult life was spent developing a successful business, the call from nature was strong enough to prompt a move to northern Scotland in 1994. Now with his wife, son and two dogs, Peter is based in the heart of Scotland's Cairngorms National Park and has worked as a freelance nature photographer and writer since 2000. Peter’s images and stories have appeared in a wide variety of media in recent years and he writes and illustrates regular columns for a number of photographic and country interest magazines. In addition to documenting Europe's high-profile wildlife species, Peter has developed a deep fascination for our own relationship with the natural world and much of his work focuses on a diverse range of issues such as wildlife management, ecological restoration, eco-tourism and evolving land-use regimes. Along with Mark Hamblin, Peter published his first book, Wild Land, in 2004 and has recently published the widely-acclaimed book from the Tooth & Claw predator project (www.toothandclaw.org.uk) which he initiated in 2005. The touring exhibition from this project has received wide critical acclaim. Peter is a member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, and a founding director of Wild Wonders of Europe and The Wild Media Foundation, a not-for-profit company supplying visual media products to the scientific and conservation communities. In addition to running his own stock library, (www.northshots.com), Peter contributes to several UK and European image libraries and has received international awards in both the BBC and European Wildlife Photographer of the Year competitions. www.northshots.com www.wild-wonders.com www.gitzo.com