Sir David Attenborough joins Instagram at the age of 94 to highlight climate struggle

24 September 2020, 10:38 | Updated: 24 September 2020, 10:43

Sir David Attenborough has joined Instagram at the age of 94, saying saving the planet is a "communications challenge."

Sir David has been on television and radio for more than 60 years, but the legendary broadcaster is now exploring Insta, saying: “saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will.”

His account had over 180,000 followers not long after it launched.

He will use the platform to explain the current problems facing life on our planet.

His first post is a "special broadcast" in which he says: “The world is in trouble.

View this post on Instagram

David Attenborough has spent a lifetime travelling, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. He’s also witnessed the damaged caused. Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will. That’s why we want to share this message on Instagram. Because there is hope and together, we can inspire change. Social media isn’t David’s usual habitat so while he’s recorded messages solely for Instagram, like the one in this post, we're helping to run this account. In case you’re wondering, ‘we’ are Jonnie and Colin and we worked with David on A Life On Our Planet. So, as well as sharing the messages he’s recorded especially for this account we’ll also post some exclusive clips and behind the scenes content. Stay tuned.

A post shared by A Life On Our Planet (@davidattenborough) on Sep 24, 2020 at 2:00am PDT

“Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying. Fish are disappearing from our oceans. The list goes on and on.”

Sir David will not be posting on the account himself, he has two people helping him manage it. Collaborators Jonnie Hughes and Colin Butfield, who have also worked on Attenborough’s upcoming film and book, will help run it.