 Surrounded by hills, braided riverbeds, islands and rocky coasts, he soon became deeply interested in natural history.He worked for the New Zealand Wildlife Service between 1957 and 1987 on the management and conservation of threatened species.Bell, along with Don Merton, was part of the ultimately unsuccessful attempt in 1964 to save the South Island snipe, the greater short-tailed bat, and the New Zealand bush wren from extinction after the invasion of Big South Cape Island by rats.