Sir David Attenborough honoured by zoos and aquariums in ‘Atten-bake off’

In celebration of Sir David Attenborough’s 100^th birthday zoos and aquariums from across the country came together to celebrate with an ‘Atten-bake off’ with baked goods ranging from incredible animals to the face of the iconic broadcaster.

Sir David Attenborough began his acclaimed career working with zoos, starting by creating documentaries with London Zoo in the 1950s and went on to become a globally recognised authority for his nature documentaries and iconic voice.

The light-hearted competition was judged by TV Star, and Director of the Big Cat Sanctuary Cam Whitnall, in a video uploaded to social media. Cam Whitnall said: “Sir David is a giant in the world of nature documentaries and conservation. Everyone who works in zoos and aquariums respects him enormously. Happy birthday Sir David.”

Another atten-bake, by Tayanne Corbani at St Andrews Aquarium

Competition entries include an impressive scene of Sir David with mountain gorillas created by Rachel Gordon, Manager of St Andrew’s Aquarium, and a chocolatey tapir by Nicola Radford, Senior Keeper at Amazona Zoo. Not all the entries were for human consumption, with a special ‘cake’ made for the ring-tailed lemurs at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis that fit the lemurs’ specialised diet. And at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent, jaguar Maya was fed a special meat cake in celebration.

The winner was a strikingly lifelike bake of Sir David from Freddie Patmore, Digital Content Manager at ZSL (Zoological Society of London) which runs London and Whipsnade Zoos.

Freddie said: "Winning the Attenborough BIAZA Bake Off feels so special in ZSL's 200th anniversary year. As a child, I had Sir David's Life on Earth pretty much permanently out on loan from the library - and it was the endlessly bizarre Attenborough's echidna, native to Australia, that first made me take an interest in wildlife. I was hooked. In his honour, I baked my cake in Sir David's likeness using an Aussie cake recipe as a small nod to that brilliant animal. At ZSL, we inspire, inform, and empower people to protect and restore wildlife - and sometimes that spark starts somewhere unexpected. For me, it started with reading about a spiny monotreme, over and over again, in a library book."

Andy Hall from BIAZA (the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums), who organised the bake off, said: “At BIAZA we are all about bringing together the best zoos and aquariums in the country, and we are naturally huge fans of Sir David, so of course we wanted to celebrate Sir David with cake!.”

Lemurs enjoy special Attenborough shaped food at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis

Beneath the baking fun was a serious message says Hall: “Our natural world needs more David Attenboroughs, we need more people who care for the natural world and are willing to use their voice stand up for the voiceless.”