David Attenborough on Solving the Overpopulation Problem

When I think of David Attenborough, I picture the wildlife documentary pioneer tracking down the illusive lyrebird in an Australian forest, or following a Siberian tiger’s footprints in the snow. But when he spoke with New Scientist’s Alison George, the focus of their conversation wasn’t wildlife, but rather his recent involvement in the Optimum Population Trust, a think tank on population growth and environment (as George points out, the group has an ominous world population clock on its homepage—in the one minute I watched it, the global population jumped by about 160 people). "For the past 20 years I've never had any doubt that the source of the Earth's ills is overpopulation. I can't go on saying this sort of thing and then fail to put my head above the parapet," Attenborough told George.

Given his experiences, perhaps it isn’t at all surprising that, through tracking wildlife for half a century, Attenborough has come to see human population growth—and the development that comes with it—as a problem for nature. In the Siberian tiger footage (above), for instance, he says, “Hunting animals need hunting grounds. And that, inevitably, brings them in conflict with humanity. Once there were tigers all over Asia, from Sumatra and Bali in the south, India in the west, up to Siberia in the north. But sadly, over much of those areas, the tiger has disappeared.”

Here’s a bit on Attenborough’s take on the controversial topic from the New Scientist article:

There are nearly three times as many people on the planet as when Attenborough started making television programmes in the 1950s - a fact that has convinced him that if we don't find a solution to our population problems, nature will. "Other horrible factors will come along and fix it, like mass starvation."

As a species, he says, we need to learn modesty, that we can't overrun everything. "If I had more intellectual athleticism I would tackle the problem of why I think other creatures have a right to live. I do think that, but can't justify it in a very convincing way."

To read the rest of the article or ask Attenborough a question, click here.