The sixth extinction
Scientist Gerardo Ceballos declared the vast loss of wildlife a biological annihilation - a frightening assault on the foundations of human civilisation.
Skull, Wellcome Collection
When I visit my family home in London, where I partly grew up, I make sure I run around Regent’s Park. There, I have a little ritual: to see how many animals I can spot through the fence of London Zoo, which sits inside the park’s parameters.
As a child, little was more thrilling than a sneak peek at the giants of the animal world: the giraffes, the rhinos, the elephants, the lions. But it was only when I went on safari in South Africa many years later that I understood their true majesty, free from man-made barriers. And it was only then that I realised what the world would be like
