Attenborough and the Giant Egg

Attenborough and the Giant Egg
Presented byDavid Attenborough
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original release
NetworkBBC
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Attenborough and the Giant Egg is a 2011 British nature documentary written and presented by David Attenborough. The documentary is a follow-up of an episode in Madagascar, filmed in 1960, for Attenborough's earliest nature documentary series, Zoo Quest.[1][2] In that episode, a native boy gave Attenborough a collection of large pieces of eggshell, which Attenborough temporarily pieced together with sticky tape to form a complete eggshell of the extinct elephant bird.[2] The egg is the subject of the 2011 documentary, which is an hour long and premiered on 2 March 2011.[1]

The documentary explores the history of the elephant bird, what led to its extinction, and the role of conservation in preventing the extinction of critically endangered species.[1] The extinction of the elephant bird is attributed to human activity. The birds were once widespread, but deforestation and the hunting of the bird's eggs led to the species' decline.[3] Attenborough compares the factors that led to the extinction of the elephant bird with the threats facing critically endangered species in the present.[3]

  1. ^ a b c "Attenborough and The Giant Egg". BBC. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Zoo Quest to Madagascar - Episode 1". Zoo Quest. 1961. BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b Gray, Richard (19 December 2010). "David Attenborough and the mystery of the elephant bird". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 December 2010. Retrieved 30 July 2012.