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| David Attenborough |
One fine day, his wife Anahario, who belonged to the Mohawk tribe, argued with Archibald as usual, criticizing his immoral act of hunting animals. At that moment, Archibald spotted a beaver that darted out from a pile of woods of a check dam, skillfully caught it, skinned it, and moved on. Shortly after, Anahario heard the two kits (younger ones of beavers) crying from the spot where their mother was caught, their cries eerily like those of human children. She returned to the place where the beaver was trapped and carefully took the little ones in her care. The wailing of the motherless kits, combined with the tender tears of his beloved wife Anahario, transformed Archibald, once merely a hunter, into a nature-loving person.
Archibald named the little kits Jelly Roll and Rawait, raising them as beloved pets. He soon realized that beavers were far more than simple creatures to be killed for their skins—they were intelligent beings, and their dwindling numbers were cause for grave concern. He made it his mission to share with the world the urgent need to protect them.
Archibald Belaney, a renowned naturalist widely known as “Grey Owl,” shared this story with heartfelt emotion in the grand De Montfort Hall in Leicester, England, which was completely packed that day. A large audience had gathered to hear Archibald, who had a rich knowledge on the natural wealth of Canada—the world’s second largest country—and actively engaged in efforts to protect its flora and fauna. He warned that environmental degradation directly threatened the lives of countless species.
It was 1936—a time when humanity had not yet begun blindly exploiting natural resources and thoughts of environmental degradation were scarcely present. His profound knowledge of nature and his unwavering resolve to save a beaver left the audience in awe.
In the hall was a ten-year-old David Attenborough, who sat beside his elder brother Richard. To his young eyes, Archibald appeared almost like a Redeemer. A boundless reverence for Archibald began to take hold in the boy’s heart. That day, Archibald also presented short films that brought to life the forests of Canada, its teeming wildlife, and the beavers he so passionately sought to protect.
In his speech on the vital need of safeguarding Canada’s natural wealth, Archibald emphasized the interdependence among all living creatures and the delicate balance of the environment it sustained. He warned that unchecked human exploitation would one day lead to grave peril. For the young David Attenborough, the message left a profound and lasting impression.
The message he conveyed—“Remember, we all depend on nature but nature does not depend on us”—became, from that day onward, a guiding mantra for David.
That intimate and deeply personal lecture, which seemed to be meant solely for him, was later described by Richard as the moment that shaped his younger brother’s future. For David, it was that very instant that marked the beginning of his lifelong journey as a passionate naturalist. That day shaped the lives of both brothers. From that moment, David turned steadfastly toward nature, while Richard grew into a gifted storyteller and a theater artist.
David Attenborough was born and raised in the city of Leicester. His father, Frederick Attenborough, served as the principal of the city’s university, and hence their residence was within the university grounds. Behind the campus lay a vast stone quarry, numerous ponds, and open fields.
David spent most of his time there. In the quarry, he discovered numerous fossils, which fascinated him immensely, and he diligently continued to collect many significant fossils. Even at that young age, his knowledge and extensive collection were enough to mark him as a budding palaeontologist.
At a young age, David had already found a way to turn his passion into a small enterprise: he would catch freshwater creatures from the quarry ponds and sell them to the university’s zoology department for laboratory experiments. From the age of seven, he had been avidly collecting and documenting bird eggs, often cycling long distances to expand his collection.
On one of his birthdays, his sister (David’s parents adopted and raised two German girls who had become orphans during the Second World War) gifted him an insect that had become fossilized in amber. Later, David went on to collect and preserve thousands of specimens of animals trapped in amber, safeguarding them for study and posterity.
We all still remember the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, in which David’s brother, Richard Attenborough, brought dinosaurs to life using the blood of a mosquito preserved in amber.
For David, it was his childhood encounters with fossils, lizards, and frogs that nurtured a direct and intimate connection with nature, fueling an insatiable curiosity to understand it. Those formative years laid the unshakable foundation for the lifelong bond he would maintain with the natural world—a passion that David Attenborough has, through his documentaries, shared with millions across the globe.
The secret of his storytelling lies in the sheer wonder of witnessing nature’s marvels. Whether it is the explosive scattering of fruits or the delicate bloom of new flowers and the appearance of creatures, his honest, heartfelt smile draws us into the same awe. His voice has opened thousands of hidden doors in dense forests and the deep seas, inviting us in to explore. In many ways, David Attenborough himself has become a bridge between humanity and the natural world.
He brought dense forests, the evidence of life that existed millions of years ago, fossils, wondrous plants, the depths of the oceans, and creatures beyond our imagination all into the comfort of our homes.
Born on May 8, 1926, David Attenborough completed his degree in Natural History at the Cambridge University in 1947. He served two years in the Royal Navy. In 1952, when he applied to work as a host/presenter at BBC Radio, he was initially rejected. After persistent efforts, he was eventually accepted, but only as a trainee. After joining BBC Television in 1952, he produced his famous series Zoo Quest in 1954. In addition, he created and broadcast programs on political debates, archaeological discoveries, short stories, horticulture, and theology. In 1965, he assumed the role of controller of BBC Two, playing a key role in introducing color television to the public. In 1969, he produced the immensely popular comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus and, in the same year, became Director of BBC Television.
Although he served with distinction at the BBC for eight years, the discomfort of being confined to an office gradually became apparent to him day after day. In 1973, he resigned from the post to devote himself full time to creating natural history programs. His first independent production, Eastwards with Attenborough, was a natural history series on Southeast Asia. In 1975, he created The Tribal Eye, a series exploring the art and lives of indigenous peoples. In 1979, he wrote and produced the thirteen-part series Life on Earth, followed by The Living Planet in 1984 and The Trials of Life in 1990. Since then, he has continued to produce countless beloved series, capturing the hearts of millions around the world.
In the 1950s, people would sit mesmerized in front of what was then considered a marvel—the television set—waiting eagerly for programs to begin and wondering at what they saw. Over the decades, the television became an integral part of life: people ate, read, and engaged in conversations around it, almost treating it as indispensable. When color television was introduced, the initial reaction was one of awe—‘Ah, color!’—but in the years that followed, even that novelty began to fade.
A television series does not gain significance merely because it is presented in three dimensions or showcases numerous technological wonders. Its true value lies in how deeply it engages viewers and the sustained admiration it earns over time.
This philosophy is evident in all of his series. David was already married before joining the BBC. In 1950, he wed Jane Elizabeth, and throughout their 47-year marriage until her death in 1997, she was his steadfast partner in all aspects of his life.
At the age of 70, while Jane was in critical condition due to a brain hemorrhage, David was on a filming assignment in New Zealand. However, he rushed back and was by her side during her final moments. David often recalls how she held his hands tightly at the end, and he has said that losing Jane felt as if he had lost his entire life.
He has a son, Robert, and a daughter, Susan. Robert is a professor of bioanthropology, and Susan is a school principal. David has often admitted, with a sense of guilt, that his intense passion for nature sometimes kept him from spending enough time with his family and children. Despite being one of the most famous persons in the world, he has always kept his personal life largely private.
In his elegiac memoir Life on Air, he wrote of Jane: “The focus of my life, the anchor, had gone… now I was lost.” He said that, to some extent, his bond with nature helped sustain and empower him through that immense loss. Choosing to remain in the same home they had shared, he reflected, “To leave this house we built together would render my entire life meaningless.”
In 2011, an astonishing and almost unbelievable event occurred in connection with that house. The very house that he and Jane had built together was linked with a murder that happened nearly 132 years ago. In 1879, a widowed woman, who rented a house from a female owner, was beheaded in that vicinity by the owner. While the killer was distributing the cooked body parts of the victim to the children in the neighborhood, she was captured by the local people who saw a sight of the cut feet of the victim. She was then sentenced to death. However, the head of the victim was never found. Buried for centuries, it was finally unearthed from the soil during the expansion of David Attenborough’s house in 2011.
Attenborough objects being called merely “an animal lover,” insisting that it is not simply a preference. For him, his bond with nature and animals is a beautiful, profound, and deeply meaningful connection.
As of 2013, David Attenborough holds the record for receiving the most honorary degrees in the United Kingdom. He is the only individual to have been awarded 32 honorary degrees from British universities. These honors stand as a testament to his contributions to the conservation of nature. He has been honored twice with a knighthood (a title of “Sir”), in 1985 and 2022. The list of awards he has received is extensive, and numerous poems have been written in his honor. More than 40 species have been named after him—both living and extinct. For example, a type of dinosaur has been named Attenborosaurus in his tribute.
Across David Attenborough’s long and illustrious experiences in nature, there have been countless fascinating, astonishing, and significant events—often accompanied by moments of danger.
During the filming of The Green Planet, he sustained deep injuries to his hands from the sharp spines of a cholla cactus of California despite wearing gloves. In 2012, David Attenborough personally observed and documented the last remaining individual of the rare Pinta Island tortoise before it passed away. He was also the first to extensively film and document the birds of paradise in Indonesia.
At the age of 90, David Attenborough descended over a thousand feet beneath the sea to document the Great Barrier Reef corals—something the world had never seen firsthand before. Only through his eyes, the world witnessed these coral formations for the very first time. In 1956, for a television series, he was tasked with capturing a python in Burma and transporting it to the British Zoo. At just 30 years old, long before the advent of modern safety measures, David swiftly climbed a tree, deftly placed a bag over the head of the approximately four-foot-long Burmese python, and then descended to safely secure it in a cage.
In 1979, while filming Life on Earth, David encountered a group of mountain gorillas at very close quarters in Rwanda, Africa. Without fear, David sat among the gorillas, when a young gorilla unexpectedly climbed onto him and hugged him tightly from behind. The filming crew was astonished by this sudden moment. Yet, without any danger, David completed the shoot and revealed to us the life of the mountain gorillas. This was the first television series to show us the mutual love and understanding between humans and animals.
On Christmas Island, amidst a sea of millions of red crabs swarming around and over him, he sat with nothing but a torch, calmly addressing the camera for a documentary. This stands as a striking testament to his fearless bond and deep understanding of the animal world.
From within a small puddle, while he was coordinating the shoot, hundreds of leeches crept into his shoes. Unfazed, he calmly touched them with his fingers and explained them, a moment that revealed how deeply he had merged with nature itself. Even when a colossal Komodo dragon advanced right before him, he remained still and composed, fearless in the presence of the wild.
Even when a gigantic Komodo dragon came extremely close in front of him, he stood calm and fearless. Later, during filming in the Arctic, polar bears wandered dangerously near the crew, attempting to attack, only to be driven back by armed guards. Reflecting on the moment, David lamented that such encounters between humans and polar bears were the tragic consequence of climate change.
The Blue Planet series revealed to millions the wonders of the deep ocean and showed rare creatures never before seen by humans, such as anglerfish and the dumbo octopus. During the filming of The Private Life of Plants, David Attenborough realized that the scientific name of the world’s largest flowering structure, Amorphophallus titanum, literally meant “formless, giant, misshapen plant.” He felt the name demeaned the plant, and so he popularized the alternative name “titan arum.” His compassionate heart would never accept that even a plant—often regarded by the world as senseless and unthinking— should be burdened with a name that belittled it.
David Attenborough, usually seen in a blue coat and khaki trousers, completed the entire filming of the Back to Nature series in 1975 in the Solomon Islands, wearing only a single loincloth while living among the indigenous people. His cultural understanding deserves recognition. In many series, we can see David Attenborough forming friendships with animals that are considered dangerous. These are evidence of the love and respect he had for animals.
His closeness with animals was not merely physical proximity; it was a deep, intellectual, and emotional connection. He spent his life not only documenting wilderness areas but also advocating for their conservation. His books, documentaries, and personal accounts reflect his profound bond with the natural world and his desire for others to experience that same connection.
For the past century, David Attenborough, with his reassuring and profoundly calm voice, has taken us to the most marvelous and extraordinary places on Earth—places untouched by human footsteps. He alone is living proof of how a single person can hold such immense love for nature.
He says (the following quote is translated from Tamil to English language and hence not an exact quote):
When we started saving and raising 90–95% of the children born, Darwin’s concepts of natural selection and “survival of the fittest” lost much of their meaning.
However, I do not believe humanity will vanish; we all are incredibly intelligent and will find ways to preserve ourselves. Yet the greatest question before us is whether life in the future will be anything like it is now. I hope, even a century from now, the human population will be smaller, while natural resources remain abundant and healthy.
As we celebrate his century, the best tribute we can offer him is to follow the path he has shown and pledge to protect the Earth’s natural resources. As he often says, the future of this planet depends on how we act to safeguard it—so let us take action.
In a 2007 interview, he said (the following quote is translated from Tamil to English language and hence not an exact quote):
By 2050, most of the world’s species could face extinction. However, it is not too late even now. If you are children, let protecting nature be your future. If you are parents, let safeguarding the environment be your sole goal. We all are living at a moment when action is imperative.
In this chaotic world, let his gentle and profoundly reassuring voice guide us, allowing us to live alongside him in a healthier world.
Having had a pacemaker implanted in 2013 and undergoing knee replacement surgery in 2015, David said (the following quote is translated from Tamil to English language and hence not an exact quote):
I will not stop my journey for anything. I will continue traveling the world, exploring its countless wonders. I consider myself fortunate compared to my great grandparents, who had never traveled beyond five miles from their village. I am grateful for the comforts and opportunities I have been given.
In May 2025, as David Attenborough reached his hundredth birthday, his documentary Ocean with David Attenborough highlighting the importance of the oceans and the urgent need to protect them was released. No one would believe that he is 100 years old, as he explains every aspect of the seas with remarkable energy and enthusiasm. The film, which premiered in theaters, is now available on platforms like Disney+ Hotstar (now Jiostar) and Nat Geo.
At the beginning of 2025, his creation Asia, a series showcasing the wildlife and natural wonders of the Asian continent, was released. The same year, his remarkable documentary Mammals, focusing on mammals, also premiered.
Recently, Our Story with David Attenborough, a three-dimensional show, featured David recounting his journey through nature’s splendor and the people he met along the way. With the aid of cutting-edge technology, this 50-minute presentation was showcased at the Natural History Museum in London in June 2025.
Their friends say that David works only seven days a week in his effort to create many new series. Next, he is set to produce the third part of The Blue Planet series. From being a boy who collected fossils to becoming a naturalist who led the world by his hands into the wonders of nature, David Attenborough’s life is a story as rare and extraordinary as any in natural history.
Wishing the happiest of birthdays to the world’s most magnificent storyteller. David, may you remain with us and illuminate our path for yet another hundred years.
Logamadevi
Tamil to English Translation: Helan Mouttou
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| Helan |
