The tourism and wildlife filmmaking industries have lost one of their most influential ambassadors following the death of internationally acclaimed wildlife cinematographer and filmmaker. Brad Bestelink’s extraordinary work helped take the Okavango Delta into homes across the world.
Bestelink, who grew up in the Okavango Delta, was renowned for documenting the lives of Africa’s most celebrated predators, bringing audiences closer to the lions, leopards and other wildlife that have helped establish Botswana as one of the world’s premier wilderness destinations.
His passing represents a significant loss not only to the international wildlife filmmaking community but also to Botswana’s tourism industry, which has benefited from the global exposure generated by productions showcasing the country’s extraordinary natural heritage.
His storytelling went beyond spectacular wildlife footage. He gave individual animals identities, histories and personalities, allowing viewers to develop emotional connections with creatures they might otherwise have encountered only as distant images in a wildlife documentary.
Through productions including Savage Kingdom, Living with Leopards, Big Cats 24/7, The Flood and Okavango: A Flood of Life, Bestelink helped transform the Delta from a destination experienced largely by visitors into a wilderness familiar to millions of international television audiences.
His storytelling went beyond spectacular wildlife footage. He gave individual animals identities, histories and personalities, allowing viewers to develop emotional connections with creatures they might otherwise have encountered only as distant images in a wildlife documentary.
The scale of his influence was reflected in the international reach of his productions. His work included Planet Earth II, Our Planet II, Surviving Paradise: A Family Tale, Our Universe and Africa’s Fishing Leopards. His contribution to Our Planet II earned him a 2024 Primetime Emmy nomination.
For the tourism industry, his contribution was particularly important because he helped sell Botswana’s wilderness. His camera told stories that conventional tourism campaigns could rarely replicate: the struggles of a leopard raising cubs, the territorial battles between lions and the daily survival of predators in an unforgiving environment.
The success of Big Cats 24/7, produced in the Okavango Delta, illustrates the international appetite for these stories.
The PBS series follows individual lions, leopards and cheetahs, taking viewers into their lives through footage captured over several months, including at night using specialist filming technology. Bestelink’s influence, however, extended beyond the international recognition he brought to Botswana’s wilderness. He was also instrumental in developing the country’s natural history filmmaking industry.
He co-founded the Natural History Film Unit Botswana (NHFU), establishing a platform through which local filmmakers could acquire skills, gain experience and participate in international productions.
Wildlife conservation organisation Wildscreen, which worked with him during the 2025 Wildscreen Festival Botswana, paid tribute to his commitment to developing local talent. It said he had provided training, mentorship and opportunities for Motswana filmmakers, helping create pathways into international productions.
The organisation described him as a significant figure whose influence on Botswana’s filmmaking community would be felt for generations.
His parents were among the pioneers who helped replace hunting with camera-based safaris, an approach that would shape his own understanding of the relationship between tourism and conservation.
His own journey into the industry began unusually early. Born and raised in the Delta, he came from a family deeply connected to photographic tourism.
His parents were among the pioneers who helped replace hunting with camera-based safaris, an approach that would shape his own understanding of the relationship between tourism and conservation.
At 16, he became Botswana’s youngest professional bush guide. He subsequently moved from guiding visitors through the wilderness to documenting it, eventually training under celebrated wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, with whom he worked for more than a decade.
Those who worked with him remembered a man whose understanding of wildlife went beyond technical filmmaking ability.
His extraordinary instincts and intuition allowed him to anticipate animal behaviour, often spending long periods following individual animals until their stories unfolded before his cameras.
His work also helped establish the Okavango as more than a spectacular landscape. It became a place of individual stories, familiar animal characters and extraordinary natural drama, giving international audiences a deeper appreciation of what Botswana stands to lose if its wilderness is not protected.
