Whilst still at Primary school he says: ‘I was lucky enough to be allowed to be a helper to H.H. Gregory, the geologist who allowed me to come and help him at the museum classifying fossils. I can still remember the smell of camphor and the excitement of not knowing what we would find when we cracked open a block of stone. I got and still get immense fun, pleasure and joy from trying to understand the natural world.’
Life in Cold Blood is the last of the BBC Life series which has covered all species of the natural world on our planet. I asked him what was the most astounding thing he had seen during the current series. ‘Watching a female caiman herding hundreds of tiny babies across about a mile of water off Venezuela, not many of the babies would have been hers as caimans operate a crèche system. I didn’t actually see it live but saw it on film, quite remarkable.’
During the making of the series they also highlighted a deadly fungus, which exists all over the world but in the isthmus of Panama it is having a particularly devastating effect on the amphibian population. ‘In the wild there is nothing to do to stop it. On an individual basis we could clean it off but in the wild it is impossible - it is worrying, very worrying indeed. What it means for the planet is this: amphibians, amongst other things, eat mosquito larvae so without their natural predator, the number of mosquitoes and disease carrying mosquitoes will increase. Plus: frogs are a substantial part of many birds’ diet so if their food source decreases it is has a very serious knock on effect on birds. The balance is very fragile.’ There have been so many magical moments during his career, but David says: ‘If I were to pick one for you now, I’d say watching the birds of Paradise. They are only to be found in New Guinea and their plumes are so beautiful.’
I asked him about his scariest encounter. ‘In Africa, coming across a drunken man with a loaded gun and unable to speak his language - human beings are far scarier than any animal’. He survived to tell the tale but it led us to discussing the effect we humans are having on our planet.
‘We are waking up to the fact that we have to do something, we have examples of where we haven’t learnt, like fishing. We have fished all the herring out of the North Sea and we have done the same with the cod in Newfoundland. In the time I have been broadcasting the human population has increased three fold from 2.5 billion to 6 and we all need food and space so the natural world suffers as a result. Animals take what they need and they have natural predators, but they also have us, the greatest predator of all and we, apart from wars and natural disasters don’t have a curb on our growth. Yet we are the most altruistic of all the species. Animals are not generally altruistic although there are examples such as the worker bees who care for the young of others and labour for the benefit of the hive. I hope we will learn and protect our planet.’
One place he would love to go but hasn’t yet visited is the Gobi Desert but he says: ‘From a dollars per amount of film footage point of view it’s not the best place to make a natural history film as there is very little life.’ His favourite place in the world though is home, Richmond and the house he has lived in since 1952. He says he chose Richmond ‘because on coming down from the Midlands, it seemed there were two places to choose from, Hampstead or Richmond. Both had lovely green spaces but Richmond also had the Thames and Kew Gardens (of which he is now a trustee) and , at that time was cheaper than Hampstead, so we bought it, or rather the bank bought it!’
This is where he and his late wife brought up their 2 children both of whom now live in Australia. His son followed in his footsteps and is an anthropologist. His daughter is a former Head Teacher of a primary school and now an educational consultant. ‘I love Australia and so I visit when I can. The grandchildren were over at Christmas’.
When he is not working he relaxes by listening to music and going to concerts. Right now he is working on a series about Darwin. ‘Next year is the bicentenary of his birth, but this is not a ‘follow in his footsteps’ programme - rather an exploration and explanation of his theories and thoughts.’
‘Amazing Rare Things is an astounding collection which I was really honoured and privileged to be involved with.’ It’s an extraordinary collection of natural history drawings from artists over the centuries including Leonardo da Vinci and is at The Queen’s Gallery ,Buckingham Palace from mid March.