A life in pictures: celebrating David Attenborough at 100

As the British naturalist marks a milestone birthday, we take a look at how his work has shaped science.

By Alexia Austin and Amelia Hennighausen

Deep in the rainforest of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, David Attenborough watches as a troop of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) play in the undergrowth around him. One — a youngster — crawls onto his lap and tugs at his clothes. It is January 1978, and the cameras are rolling on a wildlife series called Life on Earth.

Credits: John Sparks/Nature Picture Library; BBC/Everett Collection; Nick Upton/Nature Picture Library

Although not his first on-camera appearance, it would prove to be a defining one for the British naturalist: around 15 million viewers in the United Kingdom tuned in to watch the television series when it aired on the BBC in 1979.

A series of three photos of David Attenborough sitting in front of the wide expanse of the Grand Canyon in the U.S.; holding two large long-legged crabs while standing in the sea; and carrying a tripod back from a shoot in Wales, UK., image

This was a large audience at the time, but still around 9 million fewer than the most-watched UK broadcast that year (an episode of the TV show To the Manor Born).

Since then, Attenborough’s reporting style has grown alongside advances in the science that he covers. As he celebrates his 100th birthday (on 8 May), his influence on the scientific community is greater than ever.

Credits: John Sparks/Nature Picture Library; BBC/Everett Collection; Nick Upton/Nature Picture Library

“It’s impossible to overstate what Sir David Attenborough has given us. His programmes have not only defined science and natural-history broadcasting, but they have also changed how we see our planet and our place within it,” said Jack Bootle, BBC head of specialist factual commissioning, in a press release in February.

Recounting his meeting with the gorillas in Rwanda for A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026). Credit: Entertainment Pictures/Alamy

One of Attenborough’s greatest contributions to science has been in extending its reach. “People are aware of the problems of conservation in a way which could not exist without broadcasting,” the naturalist said in 2024. Attenborough found his start at the BBC as a trainee television producer in the early 1950s. In 1954, he presented Zoo Quest, a documentary series in which he found and captured animals for zoos — a common practice at the time but something he has since denounced. This marked the start of a long and distinguished career with the BBC, in which he also held executive positions overseeing the programming output of the channel BBC Two.

Attenborough and his daughter Susan cover their ears while a sulfur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) lets out a loud shriek. Credit: TopFoto/Nature Picture Library

At home with his son Robert in 1955, playing a xylophone that he brought home from filming in Africa for Zoo Quest, his first major programme. Credit: TopFoto/Nature Picture Library

Attenborough shows a group of children an armadillo at a lecture at London Zoo in 1961. Credit: Edward Miller/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty

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Attenborough and his daughter Susan cover their ears while a sulfur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) lets out a loud shriek. Credit: TopFoto/Nature Picture Library

At home with his son Robert in 1955, playing a xylophone that he brought home from filming in Africa for Zoo Quest, his first major programme. Credit: TopFoto/Nature Picture Library

Attenborough shows a group of children an armadillo at a lecture at London Zoo in 1961. Credit: Edward Miller/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty

Attenborough shows a group of children an armadillo at a lecture at Lon