Butterflies, wasps, concerts, and a documentary. Those are just some of the ways the world is celebrating lifelong environmentalist and broadcaster David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. Attenborough has spent decades bringing nature’s wonders to television screens around the world and advocating for environmental conservation and climate action. His birthday on May 8 is being feted by fans in the U.K. and around the world.
The BBC, where Attenborough first built his career as a presenter and created the 1979 blockbuster series Life on Earth, will host a live event honoring the naturalist on May 8 at London’s Royal Albert Hall. The event will showcase wildlife stories and reflections from public figures and environmental advocates, and will feature special performances from music artists who have collaborated on some of Attenborough’s series, including Dan Smith, frontman of the band Bastille, and the Icelandic band Sigur Rós will perform Hoppípolla. The BBC also this week released a documentary revisiting the 1979 show, featuring an appearance of Attenborough himself.
Composers Pete Wyer, Brian Eno, and Pete Townshend are also organizing a separate global, virtual birthday concert on May 9, with choirs from around the world—including New York, Wisconsin, the Amazon, Ghana, and Venice—participating in a song to celebrate Attenborough’s work and highlight the message of his 2020 “A Life on Our Planet: Sir David Attenborough’s Witness Statement”.
In “Witness Statement,” Attenborough detailed the ways in which human activity was destroying the planet. “The living world is a unique and spectacular marvel. Yet the way we humans live on Earth is sending it into a decline,” he warned. “Human beings have overrun the world. We’re replacing the wild with the tame.”
The Attenborough Nature Reserve, opened by Attenborough in 1966, is meanwhile celebrating both the presenter’s birthday and the reserve’s 60th anniversary, and plans to host three days of festivities to celebrate.
“To have the reserve’s 60th anniversary so close to Sir David’s 100th birthday is really special, especially given the long connection he has with the reserve,” Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Chief Executive Paul Wilkinson said. “We therefore thought it fitting to mark the two occasions together with a celebration of the reserve and its wildlife.”
A number of organisations that Attenborough has worked with over the years, including Future for Nature and the Whitley Fund for Nature, released videos thanking him for a lifetime of conservation efforts, while a butterfly farm in Stratford-Upon-Avon, which Attenborough visited in his 1983 documentary Wildlife on One: A Touch of the Butterflies, plans to release 100 Blue Morpho butterflies. The farm’s owner, Clive Farrell, said that the documentary brought crowds of new visitors, and that he has since been able to open six more butterfly houses in the U.K. and abroad.
The animal rights non-profit, PETA announced that it would rename a rescued bull in his honor. The animal, newly christened David Attenbullock, was rescued through PETA India’s Delhi Mechanisation Project, which is working to replace animal-drawn carts with electric vehicles.
“We chose his name not only in a spirit of affection, but because he reflects something of your gift,” said Ingrid Newkirk, the organization’s founder, in a letter addressed to Attenborough. “He invites visitors to the sanctuary to pause with him, and in doing so, they notice more—the birdsongs, the life moving through the grass and trees, and the many other animals who share his home. It felt only fitting that this strong yet gentle animal, who quietly inspires others to appreciate the richness of the natural world, should carry your name.”
A new species of parasitic wasp, originally from Chile, has also been named Attenboroughnculus tau in honor of Attenborough’s influence on biodiversity research and public engagement with science.
Like many around the world, Attenborough has also been reflecting on his legacy and the monumental impact of Life on Earth. At 100, one of his prized memories is a moment broadcasted to millions around the world, which cemented his reputation as an iconic wildlife filmmaker: his encounter with gorillas in the mountains of Rwanda during the series’ filming. “Extraordinary, really,” he said of the experience during an interview for Making Life on Earth: Attenborough’s Greatest Adventure, which aired earlier this week. “It was one of the most privileged moments of my life, really.”
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