DAVID Stephen, naturalist, author, photographer, and journalist died

yesterday, aged 78.

Considered to be one of Scotland's finest naturalists, he had the

single-mindedness of the self-taught expert, whether championing the

reviled wolf or inveighing against lairds whose idea of conservation was

the indiscriminate use of poison.

David Stephen was born in Airdrie. As a boy he escaped to the

countryside and discovered in himself an affinity for the natural world.

The first part of his working life was spent as a Poor Law officer

but he turned to full-time journalism after the Second World War,

first with the Daily Record, where he popularised nature to an extent

never seen before. He then wrote for The Scotsman, contributing a

column, The World Outside, for 33 years. His writings were often blunt

and sometimes angry. He was realistic enough about mankind to be

pessimistic about the future of the animal kingdom. Many of the

creatures he wrote about became familiar to those who visited Palacerigg

Country Park at Cumbernauld, which opened under his directorship in

1974.

Palacerigg and his writings are David Stephen's monuments. At the

country park he gave animals space to live and breed; in books and

journalism he shared a lifetime's lore with generations of

animal-lovers. He detested gin traps, factory farming, the ''sportsmen''

of the hunting fraternity and muddled thinking.

The Herald's deputy editor, Mr Harry Reid, who had a close

journalistic relationship with Stephen over several years, said of his

books yesterday: ''They are valuable not just for his wonderful empathy

with animals but also for their superb descriptions of the Scottish

landscape.

''David Stephen evoked the physical splendour of the Scottish country,

in all seasons and weathers, better than any writer since John Buchan.''

Mr Stephen is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.