David Attenborough warns that mankind is a ' plague on the Earth'.

Sir David Attenborough has described mankind as a 'plague on the Earth' and issued a stark warning that the world must limit population growth.

The 86-year-old presenter bleakly predicted that if humans do not curb burgeoning populations then nature will do it for us.

Sir David, who is a patron of the Population Matters organisation which calls for smaller family sizes, made his comments while speaking to the Radio Times about his latest series for the Eden channel.



He said: 'We are a plague on the Earth, it's coming home to roost over the next 50 years or so.

'It's not just climate change; it's sheer space, places to grow food for this enormous horde.

'Either we limit our population growth or the natural world will do it for us, and the natural world is doing it for us right now.'

Attenborough pointed to the number of television programmes which focus on famine in countries such as Ethiopia, claiming that they illustrate that there are too many people living there to be able to support themselves.

According to Sir David, the situation will only get worse unless 'humanity manages to sort itself out.'

The Population Matters charity predicts that the global population will boom to 9billion from its current 7billion by 2050.

Asia and Africa are expected to see the biggest population rises.

As well as discussing the problems associated with a growing world population, Sir David said that he is unsure whether the BBC will need to replace him when he eventually retires despite six decades of successful documentary making.

He described his presenting style as a 'bit out of fashion' and said that it is cheaper for producers to put someone in front of a camera describing the way in which animals behave rather than actually showing it.

As well as Sir David's Natural Curiosities series for Eden, some of the veteran presenter's landmark series will be re-run on BBC2 starting with 1979 classic Life on Earth.

The series will be aired every day from next Monday at 4.15pm.

SOURCE : DAILY MAIL