The Wordsworth Reading Series: Sir David Attenborough
Description:
David Attenborough (naturalist) speaks at the Brattle Theatre. He talks about producing nature films and how newer, more sophisticated equipment makes it possible to document previously unseen animal behaviors. He talks about working with the scientist Cynthia Moss and describes elephant mating rituals. He talks about working with the scientist Christophe Boesch and describes how chimpanzees hunt monkeys. He talks about deciding, after some consideration, to show the graphically violent hunting process on television.
He takes audience questions. He talks about the difference between the behaviors of chimpanzees studied by Boesch and those studied by Jane Goodall. He talks about the family structure of elephant herds and the occurrence of incest between the senior male and his mating partners. He talks about the fertility of male and female elephants. He talks about his goal in producing nature films. He talks about relating chimpanzee behavior to the behavior of earlier human ancestors. He talks about relating other animal behaviors to human behaviors. He talks about production limitations of his earlier documentaries. He talks about politics and increased interest in environmental issues. He talks about working with local people on his documentary expeditions. He talks about altruistic behavior in animals that sacrifice themselves for others. He talks about the lack of government support for natural science studies, particularly in the Soviet Union. He talks about footage of a snow leopard in one of his films. He talks about his favorite species to work with: birds-of-paradise. He talks about how the space program made environmentalism popular.
