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The trailer for Sir David Attenborough ’s Planet Earth II was released earlier this week, featuring incredible wildlife shots , epic slow-mo and Sigur Rós.
Soon after, the 90-year-old appeared at a festival in Bristol, warning the audience about the dangers our planet faces, saying the future makes him “depressed, very depressed… But you have to take the longer view.”
Speaking about wildlife programming, Attenborough divulged his fears that, if filmmakers stop creating documentaries, a huge number of people will be at a loss.
“I seriously think that wildlife programming and film-making is of crucial importance to the future of the world,” he told the interviewer and fellow naturalist Chris Packham according to Radio Times .
“The UN has said that the majority of the human race is now urbanised, so a majority of the human race doesn’t see a true wild animal. We also know that we depend upon the natural world for every breath of air we take and every mouth of food we eat. If we damage the natural world we damage ourselves.
David Attenborough: Life in picturesShow all 35 1 /35David Attenborough: Life in pictures David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1957 David Attenborough with his three-year-old daughter Susan, as they cover their ears while sulphur-crested cockatoo Georgie lets out a piercing shriek
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1950 David Attenborough with his wife Jane Oriel and older brother and film actor Richard Attenborough at St. Anne's Church, Kew Green
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1955 David Attenborough, holding his son Robert, whilst looking at an animal called a coatimundi, brought home from the combined London Zoo
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1955 David Attenborough and Jack Lester, curator of London Zoo's reptile house, plan their next expedition to British Guiana with the help of Gregory the parrot
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1956 David Attenborough with six-year-old Michael Webb of Kingsbury pets a Capybara after Sir David had lectured to children on the 'Zoological Expedition to British Guiana' at the Royal Geographical Society in Kensington
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1957 David Attenborough, with wildlife photographer Charles Lagus, preparing to depart for New Guinea to make 'Zoo Quest' at London Airport
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1958 Prince Charles with his sister Princess Anne meeting Sir David Attenborough and Cocky, the cockatoo brought back from his last Zoo Quest expedition, at the BBC Television Studios in Lime Grove, London
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1961 David Attenborough with two ring-tailed lemurs during a Christmas lecture at London zoo
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1963 David Attenborough with an armadillo from 'Attenborough's Animals'
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1965 David Attenborough after he was appointed the new head of BBC 2
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1965 David Attenborough and Michael Peacock, Contoller of the BBC, with soft toy versions of Hullabaloo and Custard, the kangaroo mascots which were used as logos for the launch of BBC 2
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1980 David Attenborough shows Charlie the Llama to schoolboy Patrick Flynn, the millionth child to attend London Zoo's educational lectures and tours
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1982 David Attenborough feeds orangutan
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1985 David Attenborough after being knighted by the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace, London, with his wife Jane (right) and daughter Susan
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1985 David Attenborough signs his book 'the Living Planet' in a Sydney Bookstore in Australia
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1986 David Attenborough with Queen Elizabeth II filming the Christmas Message in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1990 David Attenborough poses for a photograph
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 1995 David Attenborough watches nature during the filming of Natural Curiosities
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2000 David Attenborough and his wife at the Tate Modern Art Gallery opening party
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2002 David Attenborough with meerkat on his shoulder being filmed for BBC series Life of Mammals
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2003 A python greets Sir David Attenborough during a photo opportunity at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2003 Sir David Attenborough holds a baby salt water crocodile during a photo opportunity at Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney, Australia
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough poses with The Swan Hellenic Oldie of the Year Award at the 'Oldie Of The Year Awards' honouring veteran notables together with Britain's oldest celebrity superstars, at Simpsons in the Strand in London. Sir David Attenborough was announced as the Swan Hellenic Oldie of the Year at the 13th annual awards
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough plants a Wollemei Pine at Kew Gardens in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2005 David Attenborough signs copies of his latest publication Life In The Undergrowth, published in relation to the BBC One series, at the Natural History Museum in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2006 Sir David Attenborough and Lord Richard Attenborough robe up, before they are awarded the title of Distinguished Honorary Fellowships from the University of Leicester at De Montfort Hall in Leicester
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2007 Sir David Attenborough launches National Moth Recording Scheme at London Zoo in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2008 Sir David Attenborough sits in The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace in the Amazing Rare Things exhibition in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2009 Prince William, Dr Michael Dixon and Sir David Attenborough host the opening of the The New Darwin Centre at The Natural History Museum in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2011 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II speaks with naturalist David Attenborough during a special exhibition of artefacts from the Royal Collection and Royal Archives at Buckingham Palace in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2011 Sir David Attenborough with the Specialist Factual award at the Philips British Academy Television Awards at the Grosvenor House in London
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2012 Sir David Attenborough poses with a floral sculpture of himself outside the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew Gardens in London
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David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2012 Sir David Attenborough at the UKTV Showcase held at the Saatchi Gallery in west London
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2013 David Attenborough during the filming of "Micro Monsters with David Attenborough," a series about insects
David Attenborough: Life in pictures 2016 Sir David Attenborough attends the launch of the London Wildlife Trust's new Flagship nature reserve Woodberry Wetlands in London
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“If the natural world is in peril we are in peril. People should be aware of the way the natural world works to understand when they’re damaging it.”
When asked about future of planet earth, he said: “I am quite sure that almost every one of us in this room has seen a better world than any of our grandchildren will do. The world is going to be poorer, and more crowded; the weather is going to be more extreme; the seas are not going to be as productive. But I hope humanity will come to its senses in a global way to handle these problems and I believe it can be done.”
Trailer for Planet Earth II
Sir David Attenborough has recently been outspoken about many events, including Brexit, on which he commented : “That is sad. Swallows aren’t members of the union, and migrant birds and so on.”
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