![\"Vanda](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768623311_995_\/5b5a5391-b331-481b-b3d9-c20748b64725.jpg\")
<\/p>\nCam Whitnall, 30, is a wildlife photographer and children\u2019s TV presenter. Peter Sampson, his grandfather, bought what was branded the worst zoo in Britain in 1984, now Hertfordshire Zoo, and turned it around. The family then opened the Big Cat Sanctuary in 2000 \u2014 Whitnall is the managing director. He and his brothers, Aaron and Tyler, travelled 2,800 miles across east Africa to deliver an animal ambulance to the Uganda Wildlife Education and Conservation Centre in 2019, then, a year later, started the CBBC series One Zoo Three. Whitnall documents his life at the zoo and sanctuary for his two million followers on social media and has a photography deal with Nikon. Over the past two years he has helped to bring five lions from Ukrainian zoos to Kent.<\/p>\n
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Vanda the lion from Ukraine in her new home at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent<\/p>\n
RICHARD POHLE FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n
How much is in your wallet?<\/p>\n
There is no cash in my wallet, I am strictly card-only. If I do have money in my wallet, I will probably put it in a charity pot or use it to buy some food for a homeless person.<\/p>\n
What credit cards do you use?<\/p>\n
For my personal spending, I\u2019m a debit card person. I\u2019ve looked at credit cards and probably should have one \u2014 people say it helps with getting a mortgage etc, but I haven\u2019t needed that yet. I switch my bank account around quite a lot. I just changed my business account to Tide, which I\u2019m loving \u2014 there is so much information on the account compared with my last bank. <\/p>\n
Are you a spender or a saver?<\/p>\n
Both. In my personal life I save. It\u2019s because I don\u2019t know what to spend it on, in truth. I\u2019m quite fortunate that I can do brand deals that will take me away, so I don\u2019t need to pay for trips and things. So my money is just a safety net for me, and I tuck it away in my Isa until I want to buy a house. I\u2019m a spender in my business, though, and constantly reinvest every year in myself so it can keep growing.<\/p>\n
What was your first job?<\/p>\n
It was in the zoo on a charity stall, when I was seven or eight. We were selling anything we could and donating it to Friends of the Zoo, a charity that does conservation work around the world. I got \u00a35 a week given to me in a brown envelope.<\/p>\n
When I was 13 I was a pots and pans cleaner at a golf club. I was really bad at it. When they were short-staffed, I\u2019d be rallied into helping with the food. I was once asked to make a cheese toastie and absolutely butchered it \u2014 it got sent back. Then the chef showed me how to do it properly, so if you want a cheese toastie now \u2026 I learnt from a chef.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Ross Kemp: I have six Rolexes now, but once lived on cornflakes and tuna<\/a><\/p>\n I was promoting events at a club called Halo when I was at uni in Bournemouth studying TV production. I was lazy and had a terrible work ethic. That\u2019s probably why the club work suited me, because I didn\u2019t have to get up early and it was pretty easy selling tickets and getting people to come to the club.<\/p>\n After the second year we had to find an internship and that\u2019s when I started at Jungle Creations [a social media agency]. I worked my arse off and, within a week, was hired. Within four months I was made head of video, overseeing a team of 20 people, and creating some of the most viral videos people saw on Facebook back then \u2014 we were getting four billion views a month. I got headhunted by big companies in the UK and US, but I always wanted to end up at the zoo and sanctuary.<\/p>\n I went back to uni and finished my degree \u2014 that was my safety net. But I had learnt the art of viral video making and social media, which wasn\u2019t really a thing in the UK back then, and wanted to apply that to the zoo. Within a few years our following was in the top three in the country for our sector.<\/p>\n I partnered with a friend of mine to support footballers and TV personalities with their social media, but stopped when my brothers and I got a gig on CBBC and went into children\u2019s presenting. In lockdown I started on TikTok and grew a big following and began to make money through it. <\/p>\n Aaron, Cam and Tyler Whitnall present One Zoo Three on CBBC<\/p>\n Do you remember the first time you felt wealthy?<\/p>\n No, I still don\u2019t think that, and it doesn\u2019t motivate me. Money is lovely, and is really important and helpful, but it\u2019s never been my driver. Purpose and making a difference are what drive me \u2014 I\u2019ve had that Disney dream since I was a kid. I\u2019m fortunate that my work enables me to do some incredible things as well. In 2024 I led a project to rescue five lions from Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u2022 Sean Dyche: If I\u2019d earned then, what players earn now, I\u2019d have been a right berk<\/a><\/p>\n Are you better off than your parents?<\/p>\n I have no idea. Growing up, the zoo and sanctuary weren\u2019t in the position they are in today. My mum has an incredible work ethic \u2014 she\u2019s like a Duracell rabbit and is always on the go \u2014 and my dad, an Aussie, is an incredibly intelligent man with a great commercial mindset, so I\u2019ve learnt a lot from him.<\/p>\n I also have two older brothers who motivate me \u2014 it\u2019s good being the youngest because you get to learn from their mistakes. We all live and work together, and have done for many years, so I\u2019m fortunate that my family is really close. Of course, it\u2019s not without its problems, but we all want to work together for our end goal and our charities.<\/p>\n Do you own a property?<\/p>\n No, I\u2019m a bit of a nomad right now. I live on site at the sanctuary in Kent and my family are at the zoo in Hertfordshire, and my girlfriend lives near the zoo too. I\u2019m back and forth there most days, which is pretty tiring \u2014 depending on the M25, the journey takes anything from one hour 40 to four hours. It\u2019s hard working out what the next two years or even the next six months hold, and that makes it difficult to plan. I want to buy a house within the next year, but I don\u2019t know where.<\/p>\n With his grandfather Peter<\/p>\n Have you ever been hard up?<\/p>\n No, I\u2019m fortunate that my mum and dad have supported me. I would never have been able to afford uni accommodation without them, and working at the zoo on minimum wage, you don\u2019t have a ton of money. When we got One Zoo Three I didn\u2019t want to be on it because I was really self-conscious about having gaps in my teeth, and my dad lent me the money \u2014 a couple of grand \u2014 to have them fixed. So thankfully my parents have supported me with things I would never have been able to afford.<\/p>\n What\u2019s been your most lucrative work?<\/p>\n Social media deals are mad. I went on a three-week trip across Kenya with Cotis Safaris seeing some of the best eco safari lodges and wildlife. It was out of this world. That trip would have cost about \u00a330,000 \u2014 I\u2019d never be able to afford that, but I invested a lot of time and energy in it, so they get something out of it too. They\u2019ve just expanded to Namibia and Botswana, so I\u2019m going again in January.<\/p>\n My trip to the Maldives with Padi, the diving certification brand, was very special. We did lots of water-based activities like scuba diving, duck diving and snorkelling with whale sharks and manta rays. For the trip I ran a social media competition for one of my followers to come with me \u2014 I wanted to do it to support the people who follow me. It was a bit of risk, but fortunately I picked well; the guy who came, Aaron, was a complete legend.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to say that anyone can make thousands quickly through social media \u2014 I get frustrated by the videos saying that. You can only do that if you\u2019re super consistent, good at what you do, and providing the right content. You can compare it with football: only the top 1 per cent are going to make the Premier League. Social media is a career and I know so many success stories, but I also know a lot that weren\u2019t successful. The minute I started treating it like work, I got less enjoyment from it, but I knew it was a decision I had to make.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your money weakness?<\/p>\n Equipment. Hard drives and SD cards \u2014 it sounds so minor, but it\u2019s one of my biggest expenses. I have six hard drives on my desk right now, 20 over there \u2014 that\u2019s a few thousand pounds\u2019 worth to store all my content. CFexpress cards can cost anything from \u00a3200 to \u00a31,000. Micro SD cards start from \u00a320, but from \u00a3120 if you want them to be compatible with newer camera models. It adds up quickly and they\u2019re so easy to lose \u2014 SD cards are a nightmare.<\/p>\n Do you save into a pension?<\/p>\n Yes, it\u2019s through work and I started about seven years ago.<\/p>\n What\u2019s better for retirement \u2014 property or pension?<\/p>\n Probably property. I need to get on the ladder, I\u2019m slacking.<\/p>\n How much did you earn last year?<\/p>\n Not as much as people might think from social media. My expenditure, not earnings, for my personal business this year was \u00a320,000, I know that much.<\/p>\n Do you invest in shares?<\/p>\n No, I invest in myself. I\u2019m now a Nikon creator but, before I got that deal, I\u2019d have to pay for all my own kit and constantly update it: cameras, SD cards, phones, laptops, hard drives, drones, trips. It cost me about \u00a38,000 to get started. Then I did my first trip to Borneo and Sumatra, which cost about \u00a34,000. It was on me to generate the work to pay that back \u2014 you\u2019ve got to spend to make money.<\/p>\n My most expensive bit of kit is a Nikon Z9, which was about \u00a36,000. I\u2019ve broken many drones, which sets me back about a grand each time \u2014 that\u2019s not helpful.<\/p>\n Your most extravagant purchase?<\/p>\n I\u2019m quite boring, so it\u2019s probably things for other people. For Christmas I bought my family tickets to see Paddington the Musical in London and go for Sunday lunch. It wasn\u2019t that extravagant but there were eight of us. But I didn\u2019t realise how much theatre tickets are \u2014 these were more than \u00a3200 each!<\/p>\n![\"Aaron,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/ad91a915-cda4-4c71-add5-0519639549a7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/604f8a17-2f16-45d0-b9aa-8cf77ac111d2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Cam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/f7c02190-bf17-4305-a7f4-477ca981f56d.jpg\")
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