HE is no stranger to putting himself in the line of danger.

But now Hampshire wildlife expert Chris Packham is set to take on thousands of armed hunters.

He is heading to the Mediterranean to highlight the plight of thousands of birds who are shot by hunters every year.

The Southampton-based Springwatch presenter will broadcast live from the island of Malta over the course of next week.

As many as 10,500 hunters armed with shotguns gather on Malta every year for a three-week shooting season as migrant birds return to the UK from North Africa.

Among the birds that travel back to the UK and northern Europe via Malta are barn swallows, cuckoos, marsh and pallid harriers, kestrels, ospreys and grey herons.

Chris and a team of fellow environmentalists will put together a video diary on the hunting and their confrontations with the hunters.

They will then be broadcast on YouTube every night at 9pm next week from Monday to Friday.

Ahead of jetting out to the island, Chris said: “Our mission is to generate a wider awareness of this heinous practice with frank and factual reports from the frontline, where our much-loved migrant birds are being shot in huge numbers.

“It will not be pretty, the species killed include many UK favourites and rarities and the hunters are infamous for being confrontational and violent.

“I don’t care, this is not a holiday, it’s an attempt to bring this forgotten issue to a wider public attention and then to offer a couple of ways the viewers can actually do something to effect positive change.

“I think people will be t r u l y horrif i e d w h e n they see what happens on Malta to ‘our birds’.

“I believe they care and they will do something to change it.”

It is not the first time Chris has found himself in a difficult situation.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, Chris was charged at by lions whilst on location in Namibia.

He managed to take it all in his stride, and even managed to take some incredible closeup photos of the pride.