He is a creature every bit as rare as those he stalks in the undergrowth to observe. He may, in fact, be the last living example of a breed facing extinction. And so, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, his continued existence is one that must be celebrated.

Sir David Attenborough bestrides our culture like a colossus, possibly the only person who we all agree on. He is a titan of the ages.

Barack Obama once said that he is “a great educator as well as a great naturalist”, while Keir Starmer asserted that he has “done more than anyone to teach us about the wonders of our planet”. Today, as Attenborough passes his centenary, there will be many similar encomia from cultural and political figures, and it is truly remarkable that this polarised, quarrelsome world can still find someone to unite us. He is the last person on Earth that anyone has a bad word to say about.

Well, almost. The environmentalist journalist George Monbiot has been critical of........

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