My role doomed by YouTube, says Attenborough

David Attenborough believes TV naturalists like him could become extinct and be replaced by amateurs from the YouTube generation.

The broadcaster – who has fronted groundbreaking series about flora and fauna such as 'Life On Earth' and 'Frozen Planet' – has been a familiar figure in natural history programmes for six decades.

The 86-year-old said “nature jockeys” like him were unlikely to be needed in the future.

Launching a forthcoming series, 'Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities' to be screened on the Eden channel, he said: “Having a man like me, or a girl or a woman, who can demonstrate these things is actually a little hangover from the past.

“I suspect in the future you won’t need nature jockeys like me and in fact not only that you won’t need specialist camera men because making natural history films has become easier and there are lots of dedicated people out there who want to do nothing more than film the mating of the dragon fly in the pond 100 yards from their house, and they’ll put it on the web.”

His Eden series begins in January.