David Attenborough: Adventures of a Young Naturalist
Craig Dibb reviews David Attenborough’s “Adventures of a Young Naturalist”, following Attenborough through time…
David Attenborough, Illustration by Caitlin Noble.
Between standing speechless in a blizzard of butterflies, scouring the barren Paraguayan Chaco for Giant Armadillos and being becalmed in the Flores Sea with a rebel arms dealer for company, Sir David Attenborough’s wild tales speak of a daring and adventure in a time that can only be dreamt of now. The nation’s favourite naturalist and wildlife narrator shows writing is among his many talents. His soothing voice slips off the page and conjures the reader to be there, with him, in a tree wrestling with a sloth in slow motion or wading through a lake cornering a manatee.
"Adventures of a Young Naturalist" was first published in 1980, and then re-published in 2017. The collection recounts three wonderful journeys that Attenborough undertook as a young man in the 1950’s. These journeys are told in three books, originally written to accompany the BBC TV series Zoo Quest, the brainchild of Attenborough. A marriage between the BBC and the London Zoo, Zoo Quest featured on-location filming of exotic creatures, as well as in-studio close-ups of the animals once captured. A novel concept and what would be the start of an era for British wildlife documentaries.
In the first book, Attenborough explores Guyana. We hear of tales of piranha, vampire bats, howler monkeys and anteaters. Journeying with an Amerindian, self-named King George, the crew find themselves in isolated highland forests where an imitation of Christianity called ‘Hallelujah’ is rife. The only greeting to survive translation into the local pidgin English is ‘Good Night’ leaving young David unsure as to whether the greeter is coming or going. Whilst settling down for the night, the entire occupants of the village he is staying with, file in to his hut with ‘Good Nights’, only to then sit down around his hammock for some late night entertainment.
In the second, Zoo Quest for a Dragon, we find Attenborough in Indonesia, fighting the local bureaucracy of a recently independent nation as he gets permits for travel. With brief visits to the Buddhist palace of Borobudur and the volcanic giant of Bromo in Java, Attenborough goes on to shed a light onto the interesting musical heritage of Bali. In Borneo, between filming probiscis monkeys and orangutan, he meets the Dayak people, once feared head-hunters. The trip culminated in an ocean voyage to the mystical island of Komodo, in search of the infamous giant lizard, the Komodo dragon. On the journey, they face fierce tidal races, watch flying fish soar above the swell and snorkel pristine coral reefs.
The last book takes a return to South America in Zoo Quest to Paraguay. On the search for armadillos, Attenborough and his companions explore remote rainforest rivers, visit an Argentinian ranch and meet indigenous hunters in the wild and barren Chaco. On one occasion, David takes a 24 hour journey across several hundred miles in chase of the alleged capture of a rare giant armadillo.
It goes without saying that there is a lot in this book for the keenest of zoologists. His in-depth descriptions of following morpho butterflies through forest glades and coming across pond shores carpeted in swallowtails in their thousands is mesmerising. Even the briefest of snippets that make it to the fringe of his writing are glorious, like the “sun glinting on the chestnut feathers” of a fish eagle’s mantle on Komodo. Throughout the book Attenborough describes his zoological encounters with the most visceral detail and precision but, like all good travel writing, it’s the descriptions of the endearing people he meets and hilarious cultural misunderstandings that ensue, that really give this collection its charm.
Even in the 1950s, the world was a much smaller place and Attenborough’s writing of his experiences act as a time capsule. Where he would have been one of a handful of westerners to walk Bali’s streets in the 1950s, the island is now a tourist magnet, with the Balinese culture taking a heavy influence from its Australian neighbour. He journeyed by sail through the Malay Archipelago to pristine areas which are now threatened and overrun with tourism. To see such places before the impending march of globalisation snatched them from antiquity is truly a privilege that I’m sure we all envy.
One element of the book that is harder to swallow is the premise of collecting wild animals for captivity. It’s clear that love and care were given to the animals caught, and the wider benefits of capturing them are certainly important. Nonetheless, in our current times, animal collecting, and removing them from the wild like this, not only sends a pang of disapproval through the spine but reminds me of the greedy and careless act of naturalists before. Compared with the wanton destruction and killing by previous European naturalists during the 19th century, our beloved Wallace and Darwin among them, Attenborough’s stories are certainly more conscientious. However, it still carries a sense of entitlement to take, which existed in the 1950s and still lingers today. Thankfully, the practice of capturing animals is outdated now.
Attenborough highlights the difference in the attitude of the times in the introduction and, throughout the book, he shows a wise view on the world, poignantly pointing out peoples ‘romantic delusions’ of wildlife when describing butterflies feasting on carrion. There are other moments which the present-day Attenborough would undoubtedly seethe at the thought of doing now, for example: when becalmed on the Indonesian prau, “Yesterday’s cigarette ends still floated dismally a few feet away”.
David Attenborough is arguably one of the most influential conservationists in the world, a household name, and responsible for bringing awareness about environmental issues such as plastic pollution into the mainstream. Anyone with the slightest of interest in natural history, travel, anthropology or, indeed, the personality Sir David Attenborough himself, should read this book.
Thank you to Caitlin Noble for her wonderful illustration of Sir David. You can find more of her work on her Instagram @caitlinniamhillustrations.
Craig Dibb
A seafarer, passionate ornithologist and environmentalist, Craig aspires to reconnect people with nature through photography and writing. He draws inspiration from his explorations of the south coast of England by sea and watching Red Kites soaring above his childhood home in the North Wessex Downs. Craig is an Engineer in the Marine Renewable industry during the day, with plans to relocate to the Orkney Isles.
You can follow Craig’s adventures on his Instagram account @craigography.