Happy Birthday, David Attenborough!

David Attenborough was born on this day in 1926.

He has been an extraordinary natural historian for over half a century and his name is synonymous with several pathbreaking documentaries.

From critically endangered Mountain Gorillas in the Virunga Mountains to Lemurs in Madagascar to the largest animal ever on the planet, Blue Whale, David has seen and studied them all. A living legend, in every sense of the word.

Wishing him many happy returns of the day and a long and healthy life ahead!

To learn more about David, please visit his website.

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Image Source: PBS Nature

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TV Review: Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 3 - Our Fragile Planet

After covering man’s efforts to study the world around him, David takes a look at the consequences of human activities on not only the living beings that cohabit our planet but the planet itself.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was formed in 1961 and one of their earliest conservation efforts was focused on the endangered animals in the Galapagos Islands.

The Galapagos tortoise weigh upto 250 kgs and live upto 150 years, making them the longest living animals on earth.

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We then meet the late Lonesome George, who was the last member of his species, the Pinta tortoise.

Then the focus shifts to the Virunga Mountains, one of the last remaining strongholds of the critically endangered MountainGorillas.

Mountain Gorillas

David’s visit was shortly preceded by the brutal killing of Digit, Dian’s favorite gorilla. He witnessed first-hand Dian’s grieving for her loss. After returning to England, he took up the cause himself. Readers interested to know more about Mountain Gorillas are encouraged to read the book: Gorillas inthe Mist by Dian Fossey.

Mountain Gorillas are not the only great apes covered in this episode. David also worked with Orangutans back in the 1950s. He brought back one of the Orangutans to the London Zoo and named him “Charlie”.

We then move on to the giants of the oceans, the Blue Whales. David encountered them for the first time at the age of 76. The whaling industry has taken a heavy toll on the worldwide population of whales.

In addition to these magnificent beings, the planet is also at the receiving end of man’s activities. Earth’s climate has been undergoing some drastic changes and this affects every living being in the world.

It is high time, we human beings take active steps to ensure the survival and flourishing of our fellow beings who share our wonderful planet with us. As David states, we need concerted efforts on an international level.

David’s observations about Mountain Gorillas perhaps sums it the best:

“There is more meaning and mutual understanding in exchanging a glance with a gorilla than any other animal I know.”

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Image Source: PBS Nature

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TV Review: Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 2 - Understanding the Natural World

Sir David Attenborough with a Meerkat

In this episode, David Attenborough takes a closer look at how science helps us to understand the world better.

We first meet the Austrian scientist, Konrad Lorenz. Konrad was a pioneer in the field of imprinting. He studied geese and published the book “King Solomon’s Ring” in 1952.

David gets to experience firsthand the effect of imprinting in geese. The close up shots of geese flying right next to David are simply stunning. They are in my humble opinion, the best shots in this episode.

Konrad Lorenz 

The concept of imprinting also works on animals including human beings.

We also learn that animals have a well-developed set of communication signs. For example, among vervet monkeys the signal used to alert the approach of a python is different from that used for a bird of prey.

Birds have different types of courtship rituals. In some species, males make astounding physical displays to impress females. In another species, male birds collect beautiful leaves, stones and fruits.

Jane Goodall, renowned primatologist

We then meet West African chimpanzees that are renowned for their nut cracking abilities. Human beings share 98% of their DNA with Chimps. Chimpanzees are omnivores and use complex hunting technique to catch their prey.

Another interesting aspect is that Chimpanzees communities each have their own cultures, much similar to human communities.

This is another gem from the veteran naturalist. Recommended to fans of natural history.

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Image Sources: Fanpop, Time, Humanima Foundation

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TV Review: Attenborough's Life Stories - Episode # 1 - Life on Camera

From land animals to small insects to birds to natural phenomena to even Human DNA, Sir David Attenborough has seen and studied them all. He truly is a living legend.

This is the first of the 3 part series (PBS Nature). In this episode, David Attenborough gives us a walk-through the constantly evolving technical aspects of wildlife film making.

David’s sense of humor shines throughout the episode. David is humble enough to focus on the nature and history of wildlife film making.

David was 8 years old when he saw his first wildlife film, Dassan by Cherry Kearton in 1934. Thus began his lifelong fascination with natural history.

David’s first film was Zoo Quest for a Dragon made in 1956. David is headed with his crew to Komodo Island to shoot the famous inhabitant: Komodo Dragon. David shares the picture he took of a curious Komodo that literally came face to face with him and was just a few yards away when the picture was taken.

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David discusses in detail the hardships faced by filmmakers due to the technical limitations. When filming underwater, initially they could only film for 10 minutes. They had to return to the surface and put a fresh film roll to continue the filming.

This situation was remedied with the arrival of the video camera that could shoot for 30 minutes. This made the shooting of never-before-seen sequences possible (The Blue Planet, 2001 and Nature’s Great Events, 2009).

David shares a funny anecdote about the “Bubble helmet” with microphone that was meant to enable the presenter to speak underwater.

David then focusses on the problems of shooting animals that are active in dark, such as bats and lions. Presence of camera lights disturbs the normal behavior of these beings. With the help of Infrared light cameras, able to capture the normal behavior (The Life of Mammals, 2002).

We are also treated to a superb Kiwi encounter (The Life of Birds, 1998). Kiwis have poor eyesight but are compensated by an amazing sense of smell. To hide his presence, David laid among the seaweeds whose strong odor was the perfect camouflage.

Here are some of the different types of cameras and techniques used for specific purposes:

1. Thermal cameras – used to shoot animals based on their body heat readings
2. Optical Probe – used to film insects and other microorganisms such as ants inside their nests.
3. Motion detector – used to film rattlesnakes hunting rats
4. Slow motion camera – used to film Kestrels, and Hoverflies (Life in the Undergrowth, 2005). Both of these winged beings can hover in the air and slow motion filming techniques are used to understand their ability to do so.
5. Time lapse studio – This is the reverse of Slow motion camera and is used to speed up slow action (The Private life of Plants, 1995).
6. Aerial Photography – used to shoot a wild dog hunt (Planet Earth, 2006)
7. Computer animations – replaced line drawings as the best technique to recreate ancient life forms (The Life of Birds, 1998 and Life in Cold Blood, 2008)

It is an interesting fact that the human race has a lot left to learn about the natural world around us and it is the scientific and technical advances by the humankind that enables us to continue this learning process. David pays tribute to the human aspect of the filmmaking by ending the episode with the filming of Snow Leopard by Mark Smith in Pakistan (Planet Earth, 2006).

David has the candor and humility to go back and correct himself. In one such instance, David was initially mistaken about how Nepenthes rajah, the largest Pitcher plant gets its nutrition. David soon figures out that the pitcher plant and tree shrews share a symbiotic relationship. The shrew feeds on plant’s liquid and leaves its droppings that provide nitrogen supply to the plant.

This is a must watch for fans of David Attenborough and Wildlife.

Click here and here to read reviews of episodes # 2 and 3 respectively.

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Image Source: PBS

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