Stephen Fry is no David Attenborough (Sir David, to you and I), but he does have the kind of wonderfully soothing voice that lends itself perfectly to nature documentaries.

You haven’t lived until you’ve watched Planet Earth (both series), and if you watch the clips at the end of each episode you’ll appreciate the sacrifices the production team makes to bring you those incredible scenes.

Whilst not quite as famous, BBC Two’s Last Chance To See, presented by Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine, did provide us with a clip worthy of our Throwback Thursday feature.

The two head to the ends of the earth in search of animals on the edge of extinction, and this time around it’s New Zealand. They’re searching for the the kakapo, a fat, flightless parrot which remains very near to extinction.

When they found the parrot, it was pretty stoked to see them:

It’s impossible to hear Stephen Fry saying “you are being shagged by a rare parrot” without chuckling.

That isn’t just any old parrot, by the way – it’s Sirocco, who has now achieved worldwide fame off the back of his antics.

Here’s a story on Sirocco from the Otago Daily Times two weeks ago:

Fans are expected to flock to the Orokonui Ecosanctuary from Sunday to see Sirocco the kakapo…

The international avian superstar was released into the wild but was “off the grid” for two years when his tracking transponder failed.

He was found again recently after a major search by Department of Conservation staff.

Ecosanctuary special projects manager Chris Baillie said the facility was preparing for the arrival of Sirocco and his huge fan base.

He has more than 1200 fans, from as far afield as Canada and Japan, who have booked to see him at the ecosanctuary from Sunday, she said…

“This is one of the only ways most people will ever meet a kakapo in real life because there are currently only 149 kakapo left on Earth, all living on predator-free offshore islands.”

Long live the kakapo, and long live Sirocco.

[source:otagotimes]