Zoo Quest

Zoo Quest is a series of multi-part nature documentaries broadcast on the BBC Television Service between 1954 and 1963. It was the first major programme to feature David Attenborough.

In each series, Attenborough traveled with staff from the London Zoo to a tropical country to capture an animal for the zoo's collection—a common practice at the time. Although the programme was centered around the search for a specific animal, it also showcased footage of other wildlife in the area, as well as the local people and their customs. Attenborough introduced each episode from the studio and narrated the footage his team had filmed on location. At the end of each series, the captured animals were brought into the studio, where experts from the zoo discussed them.

With the exception of the original 1954 series (which survives only as edited compilations repeated the following year), all episodes of Zoo Quest are preserved in the BBC Archives. The series was the most popular wildlife programme of its time in Britain and established Attenborough's career as a nature documentary presenter.