The BBC has opened what could be described as the world"s biggest zoo, in the form of a new website containing hundreds of pictures, audio and video from their vast collection of wildlife programmes and features, from spectaculars such as Planet Earth to regional news coverage.
Made possible by new technology and funding, the BBC"s "Wildlife Finder" has finally made the corporation"s ambition to give it"s natural history footage a permanent worldwide audience a reality, according to the Guardian.
Starting with 370 animals, the website will have more added on a daily basis, creating a huge collection of online nature footage. The finder starts by dividing the animals into the animal kingdom"s main categories, such as mammals, fish and birds, and then descends through subspecies to individual species such as meerkats and the Dumbo octopi.
Early hits in the collection include Darwin"s frog and a New Guinea jumping spider which leaps from a leaf on to the camera lens.
Sir David Attenborough, the respected face and voice of the BBC"s natural history programmes for over 50 years, said the Wildlife Finder had realised his ambitions for popularising natural history.
"It has always been my hope that, through film-making, I can bring the wonder of the natural world into people"s sitting rooms," he said. "Now the web has totally changed how we can link information, connect people and reach new audiences in a world which likes to have things on demand."
The Wildlife Finder can be found at https://www.bbc.co.uk/wildlifefinder/