CHRIS Packham, television’s tireless countryside crusader, recently said: “The rarest sight in the country isn’t a lapwing or a skylark – it’s a child.”

A sad indictment indeed on these digitally dominated times in which we now find ourselves, where you really are far more likely to come across a youngster searching the internet for Uggs than searching through hedgerows for bugs.

Chris Packham, the evergreen 49-year-old presenter of TV hit shows Autumnwatch and Springwatch who lives in Hampshire, made the comment in an interview with Radio Times ahead of the launch of his latest BBC2 wildlife series, The Animals Guide to Britain, which kicks off tomorrow evening at 8pm.

On the question of which animal Britain could adopt as its national emblem, in the manner of America’s bald eagle and Australia’s kangaroo, he cited the barn owl as an example of an obvious choice.

“This is a bird that isn’t just beautiful to look at, it’s brilliantly equipped for what it does,’’ he told the Echo. “It has a really majestic quality and is perhaps the most perfectly adapted hunting machine in Britain.”

But he warned that the gorgeous creature’s habitat was under threat and children were still obviously on his mind, this time as the cause, for according to the wildlife expert the trials and tribulations faced by the barn owl are all thanks to the encroachment of humans.

And who can argue when you consider the absence of the once abundant swathes of barn owls that once flew over the area of land that is now home to developments including a superstore, the law courts and the Royal Bournemouth Hospital? In typically forthright mode he laid the blame firmly at the door of breeding patterns, though not of the bird variety, but of ours.

“There’s no point bleating about the future of pandas, polar bears and tigers when we’re not addressing the one single factor that’s putting more pressure on the ecosystem than any other – namely the ever-increasing size of the world’s population.”

The herpetologist, who pressured his parents to bring him on holiday to Bournemouth as a lad so he could hunt for snakes in the Winter Gardens, added: “I read somewhere the other day that by 2020 there are going to be 70 million people in Britain. Let’s face it, that’s too many.”

Controversially, he advocated getting people to stop having babies by offering cash bonuses to people with small families.

Well, he can never be accused of sitting on the fence.

Just like his mate and fellow wildlife champion HRH the Prince of Wales, he named the red squirrel as his choice of mascot for the nation but has also damned the grey squirrel, describing it as “one of the most disastrous introductions of foreign species there’s ever been”.

Chris said: “I believe the red should become the mascot. We must succeed. We have no choice.

“How can we just give up, do nothing and say it is all impossible while witnessing the disappearance of one of this country’s most endearing species? It is unthinkable.”

Other famous faces asked their opinions included Kate Humble, who chose the spiny seahorse because it “sums up all the surprising beauty and exoticism of the wildlife that lives right under our noses here in Britain”.

Simon King said: “It would have to be the otter, it’s the embodiment of grace, charm and resilience. Otters are shy and elusive, bright and playful.

“They were brought to the edge of extinction in many parts of the British Isles, but are now bouncing back as measures to clean up our waterways pay off.”

Ben Fogle went for the rural fox, Philippa Forrester the kingfisher and Ray Mears opted for the red deer.

It is a tough call as all of these creatures hold a special place in the nation’s heart.

But if you are still not sure, you can spot most of them right here in Dorset.

So why not drag the kids from their TV and PC screens and head out to the countryside this weekend, and even if you do not manage to spot all the animals on the list, at least you get to prove Chris Packham wrong for once!

Factfile

Great local places to see some of our most beautiful creatures in the wild: • Otters – try the River Stour or Radipole Lake, Weymouth, which is an RSPB reserve; • Red squirrels – Brownsea Island; • Kingfishers – smaller rivers with good banks are good – try the River Avon close to Keyhaven and Pennington or Radipole Lake; • Red deer – New Forest, but you will need to be eagle-eyed; • Spiny seahorses – Studland; • Rural fox – your back garden, local park/woods; • Barn owl – you will be lucky!