Last night, BBC One aired Sir David Attenborough’s latest documentary Extinction: The Facts.
This heartbreaking, albeit, essential piece of viewing examined humanity’s terrifying effects on the natural world, namely biodiversity, the global rate of species extinction, and how we might just be to blame for the emergence of Covid-19.
The hour-long special was incredibly difficult to watch. ‘Extinction’ sits in stark contrast to Attenborough’s usual, heartwarming depictions of nature and its residents. While cinematographically stunning, this documentary offered up: saddening shots of baby monkeys and koalas running from forest fires; dead whales rotting in fishing nets; the little known pangolin, trapped and sold for their, thought-to-be medicinal scales. We were also introduced to the last killer whale pod found around Scotland, rendered infertile by pollution, and the last two northern white rhinos wiped out by poachers. While Extinction is a natural process, the alarming rate it currently sits at is not.
As we continue to poach, destroy and consume at unprecedented levels, we are becoming increasingly more exposed to the threat of pandemic diseases. “This year, we have been shown we have gone one step too far. Scientists have linked our destructive relationship with nature to the emergence of Covid-19,” Attenborough said.
But there is a glimmer of hope. The mountain gorillas that Sir David encountered four decades ago during Life on Earth (1979), then on the brink of extinction, have recovered to more sustainable levels, and the human community surrounding them, work to maintain that.
“I do truly believe that, together, we can make a better future. I might not be here to see it, but if we make the right decisions at this critical moment, we can safeguard our planet’s ecosystem.” Let’s wait and see if the world is listening, David.