Sir David Attenborough’s 10 Most Memorable Wildlife Encounters

1. Down with the orangutans

“You might think that this orangutan is washing socks as some kind of circus trick for which she's been specially trained,” explains Sir David. “But not so. She is doing this entirely on her own initiative.” 

Not only washing socks. As Sir David observes Bornean orangutans paddling canoes, sawing wood and hammering nails (with considerably more skill than many human DIY enthusiasts), it’s a humbling, necessary reminder that humans and apes are not so different.  

If we’re offering notes, however, a quick one for our woodworking orangutan: you’re sitting next to Sir David Attenborough! The best of the humans! Could you not at least have said hi?  

Maybe, though, she was simply star-struck. Which, if you think about it, is perhaps the most human behaviour of all. 

2. Hanging with a hedgehog

The animal may be somewhat less exotic (at least to a British audience, though perhaps wildlife watchers in Borneo would be blown away by the sight of a snuffling little Erinaceus europaeus). The encounter is just as charming.  

William Blake once wrote of seeing “a world in a grain of sand / and a heaven in a wild flower”. He might equally have added ‘and all wonder in a hedgehog bumbling round a London garden’, Sir David proving as mesmerised by this tiny live-action loofah as by any big cat or great ape. 

3. Spotting stick insects

Another memorable meeting, another example of wildlife failing to show much enthusiasm for the nearby presence of a national treasure.   

In this case we’ll cut the wildlife some slack, on account of it being a stick insect, and frankly even if a stick insect was delighted to be mere inches from Sir David’s kindly visage, how could you even tell? 

And besides, the stick insect was rather consumed with its own business: laying an egg perfectly disguised as a plant seed, in a bid to fool a bunch of ants. Which, as animal party tricks go, may be less immediately arresting than single-handedly helming a canoe, but is, in its own way, equally full of wonder. 

4. Audience with a sloth

Sir David may seem like he wouldn’t say boo to a goose, but he’d definitely say it to a sloth. 

This scene is memorable not just because Sir David gives this sloth the world’s slowest jump scare, but because it reveals to us the rather peculiar toilet habits of this sedate creature. Nature calls for every corner of nature, even if Sir David happens to be watching you.  

“Why does it come down to the ground to do it?” ponders Attenborough as the sloth deals with its (slow, deliberate) business. “And why does it nearly always choose to do so in exactly the same place? Nobody knows.” 

With respect, Sir David, we all have our idiosyncratic daily routines. A bit of privacy might be nice.  

5. A natter with Nicky

Whether this young, blind rhino was aware of Attenborough’s nature broadcasts before their first-hand encounter, we cannot say. Maybe it was indeed a long-standing fan of his groundbreaking documentary work. Maybe it just liked his smell.   

Whichever way, Sir David’s intimate 2013 ‘conversation’ with Nicky – a sightless black rhinoceros from Kenya’s Lewa Conservancy – has become the stuff of broadcasting legend.  

“He’s more likely to respond to sound if he hasn’t got the vision,” explains Sir David of his (impressively convincing) rhino impression. “And he’s just inquisitive, I suppose…” 

Yes, on one level, it’s a British national treasure squeaking at a baby rhino. On a far deeper level, it’s a vignette of empathy, care and connection. We’re not crying, you’re crying. 

6. Lunch with a lemur

When the world gets you feeling down, here’s a trick. Bookmark this clip of Sir David in the Madagascan forest, and simply fast-forward to the moment where he realises he’s just a few feet away from an Indri lemur.  

The gasp of excitement. The sheer joy at the realisation he’s nose-to-nose with a bright-eyed, wet-nosed primate. It’s the reaction of every child at the zoo or safari park or aquarium as they spot an unexpected creature at close quarters.   

“They could easily collect these leaves from the trees themselves,” ponders Sir David as the lemur accepts his proffered snack. “But they seemed to choose to take them from the hand of a human being.” 

As well they should. Who would turn down an offer of lunch with Sir David? 

7. Exploding seed pods

“The invariable mark of wisdom,” wrote American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson back in the 1830s, “is to see the miraculous in the common.”  

Of all his many qualities, perhaps it is Sir David’s ability to find wonder and joy in every corner of the world that makes him such an inspirational broadcaster.  

“For several weeks now, pressure has been building up inside the pods,” explains Sir David, wielding a stick in the direction of a crop of Ecballium with gentle menace. “Now they’re as taut as a well-pumped up bicycle tyre. All they need is just a slight nudge.” 

Cue what can only be described as a dignified assault upon a bed of squirting cucumbers, followed by what can only be described as utter glee at the resulting explosions.  

If Sir David has taught us anything, it’s that an exploding seed pod is, in its own way, as magnificent as a Siberian tiger.  

8. Lying with the leatherbacks

Sir David is lying on a Caribbean beach in the dead of night, mere feet from a vast leatherback turtle as she busily lays her eggs. If it were anyone else, this may appear to be a strange scenario, but because it’s Sir David, this seems to be a perfectly acceptable, indeed normal turn of events. Such is the power of Attenborough. 

Later, Sir David guides a freshly-hatched baby turtle from beach to the safety of the sea. Which means that – with a little good fortune at least – somewhere out there now swims a young leatherback who can say, yes, Sir David Attenborough was at my hatching. 

9. Not batting an eyelid

The calm. The composure. The presence of mind not to immediately leap backwards shrieking, “It’s a bat! It’s a bat! Is it in my hair? Get it away!” These skills are far harder to execute than Sir David makes them look. 

“And here… it is,” he breathes, just as the bat flits into shot to feast upon the seven-hour flower. It’s an absolute masterclass of broadcasting, delivered with a delighted chuckle.  

But as good as Sir David’s performance is, let’s give it up too for the Underwood’s long-tongued bat, which hits its mark with immaculate timing. Which, given its mark is a small flower dangling in mid-air in inky rainforest darkness, is easier said than done. Top telly-making all round.   

10. Gorilla get-together

Arguably Sir David’s most famous animal encounter of all wasn’t even planned. Deep in the Rwandan forest in 1978, Attenborough and his camera team found themselves among a gorilla family. The plan? For Sir David to deliver a piece to camera about opposable thumbs, as the gorillas did their gorilla-things in the background. 

The apes had other ideas. As Sir David neared them, two infant gorillas – Poppy and Pablo – decreed that this interloper would make an excellent climbing frame, clambering onto him and attempting to remove his shoes. For around ten minutes, Sir David was buried beneath the gorillas as Poppy and Pablo’s mother also ambled over for a chat. 

“It was one of the most privileged moments of my life. I dream about it,” Attenborough recently recalled. “It was (the most) breathtaking experience that anybody could possibly want who’s interested in the natural world.” 

The rest of us got to live it vicariously through Sir David. Who, if you’re choosing someone through whom to live vicariously, is pretty much top of the list.