Celebrating David Attenborough’s 95 Birthday with soothing images of him with animals
It's nearly impossible to overestimate his influence
Sir David Attenborough, the broadcaster, naturalist, and world treasure, turns 95 on today.
Attenborough has given the world classic documentaries like The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, as well as getting numerous species named after him and, more recently, worked to raise awareness about the climate crisis and its effect on the natural environment, reports The Independent.
It's nearly impossible to overestimate his effect.
In the 1950s, Attenborough began working for the BBC, and over the course of his long career, he has travelled the world, meeting new and interesting species and allowing his audience to see the wonders of nature.
These are only a few of the creatures he's come across...
In the 1950s, Attenborough went on an expedition to the former British Guiana (now the independent country of Guyana) and created Zoo Quest, one of his first BBC programs.
In 1955, he is photographed with his son Robert, holding a coatimundi, a close relative of the raccoon, that he had brought back from the region.
After giving a talk about the expedition, Attenborough demonstrated a capybara from Guyana to the children.
In 1957, the naturalist and his daughter Susan are photographed with Georgie, a sulphur-crested cockatoo.
Attenborough travelled to the Kalahari Desert in South Africa and met with some of the local meerkats for his 2002 documentary series The Life Of Mammals.
One of Attenborough's more unusual red carpet guests was Inti, an armadillo from Edinburgh Zoo.
In 2016 the broadcaster officially renamed the Attenborough Komodo Dragon House at ZSL London Zoo – and here he's with Ganas, a six year old Komodo dragon.
Continuing in the lizard theme is the time Attenborough held an Australian bearded dragon, after receiving an honorary degree from Queen's University in Belfast in 2013.
As Butterfly Conservation President, Attenborough is no stranger to getting up close and personal with butterflies – and here he is with a south east Asian Great Mormon variety in 2012.
Attenborough has had a lifelong fascination with frogs: they were the first animals he kept as a boy.
A whole episode of the 2018 series Dynasties was dedicated to these animals: the painted wolves of Zimbabwe.
This is the moment Attenborough said 'Boo' to a sloth, in 2002 show Life Of Mammals. He called them "one of the most extraordinary plant predators" – and "one animal that I don't need to sneak up on".
