Sir David Attenborough’s health is making filming more difficult, here's everything we know

Sir David Attenborough has been gracing our screens for years and years now. With his various documentaries about our planet and the animal kingdom, he has educated many people on the effects of climate change.

Sir Attenborough has shown how climate change affects human life, the animal kingdom and our environment. At the age of 96, the natural historian is still educating the world and attending conferences concerning the state of our planet and what needs to be done to reverse the effects of climate change before it’s too late.

The voice and expert behind documentaries such as Our Planet, Blue Planet and so much more, Sir David Attenborough, who was knighted for the second time in 2022, has dedicated his life to helping our planet. However, as he gets older, filming isn’t as easy as it used to be.

David Attenborough’s advanced age affects his filming

At the age of 96, it is expected that the broadcaster isn’t as fit and healthy as he used to be. However, no one can deny that Attenborough is doing excellently for his age.

In 2013, David Attenborough underwent heart surgery to have a pacemaker installed. Then, in 2015, he had two knee replacements which gave him a ‘tremendous new lease of life’ as reported by Mirror.

Read more:Paul O’Grady had ongoing health issues before his death close friend reveals

According to Express, Sir Attenborough is starting to experience memory problems. Indeed when the broadcaster was working on Planet Earth II, which aired in 2016, Sir David explained that filming wasn’t as easy as before since he can’t always remember the ‘proper names’ for things. He says he is ‘coming to terms’ with the natural memory loss.

He gave an example of when he and his crew were in Switzerland. Sir Attenborough told The Telegraph, as reported by Express:

There were these searing yellow fields, and I can't think of the damn name

I wanted to say something about it, but I couldn't, and it wasn't until we got quite close to Geneva that I thought, of course, oil seed rape.

Read more:

⋙ Greta Thunberg has a new job: What does the climate activist actually do?

⋙ Prince Harry: Is it true he flies in private jets despite his speeches on climate change?

David Attenborough’s crew was worried about his health during latest filming

At the age of 96, Sir Attenborough is still filming on location for some of his documentaries. The latest is Wild Isles, which is focused on the challenges that affect the British Isles and celebrate local nature.

This five-part series took three years to film. However, as reported by The Guardian, producers were concerned that the veteran broadcaster would contract bird flu and die during the production.

While the production team were on the island of Skomer, they had a perfect opportunity to for an amazing shot with Attenborough and the birds, but it was just as the bird flu outbreak started.

Alastair Fothergill told Radio Times:

If you sit David close to the burrows, they will almost certainly climb up his arm on to his head and take off from his head.’ We thought, ‘Wow, that could be TV gold’. That was the plan.

After the bird flu outbreak started, the producers decided to consult experts on the matter. Fothergill explained:

I have an old friend who’s an expert on infectious diseases and I rang him up for his opinion. He said, ‘Well, bird flu is actually extremely hard to catch, but if he [Attenborough] gets it he will die.’

According to The Guardian, given Sir David Attenborough’s advanced age, Wild Isles will likely be his last on-location documentary.

Sources used:

Mirror: ‘Sir David Attenborough reveals a pacemaker and knee replacement surgery have given him a 'new lease of life'

The Guardian: ‘David Attenborough undergoes urgent heart surgery and has pacemaker fitted’

Express: ‘Sir David Attenborough health: Star is ‘coming to terms’ with memory loss - natural ageing’

The Guardian: ‘Producers feared David Attenborough would catch bird flu and die during filming’