Veteran broadcaster and conservationist Sir David Attenborough has further asserted his national treasure status by sending a sweet letter to a young fan who named her pet insect after him. The young girl had written to her 'hero' to tell him that she had chosen to name her pet 'Sir David Stickenborough,' a moniker which the TV presenter seemed to thoroughly enjoy.
After receiving the letter combined with a photo of the girl's insect, Sir David responded to the young fan's correspondence, thanking her for her interest and clarifying the exact species of her small pet. Darren Logan, the girl's dad, shared the heart-warming exchange on Twitter, where he wrote: "My daughter named her new pet, Sir David Stickenborough, after her hero.
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"She wrote to tell him this. Obviously he responded. Sir David is getting renamed, apparently, but my daughter’s fascination with nature has been reinforced".
Concluding the tweet with the hashtag #NationalTreasure, Darren added a photo of said insect alongside an image of the letter his daughter received from the British legend.
After thanking the young fan for her letter, Sir David wrote: "I am so glad you are interested in stick insects. I am too and, when I was your age I also kept some. They are indeed fascinating.
"There are at least two thousand five hundred different species worldwide. Most come from the tropics and only a few special ever reach this country.
"Scientifically speaking they belong to a group called the Phasmatioidea which contains two main groups - the leaf insects and the stick insects.
After sharing his wisdom, Sir David gently clarified that the young fan's pet was not in fact a stick insect - meaning she will have to change its name.
The broadcaster writes: "The one which you sent me a photograph, however, is not a stick insect. It's a leaf insect. There are many different species of these as well.
"They vary in the food they prefer and many eat other kinds of leaves than the hawthorn and bramble which you say yours prefer.
"Many of them are even more like leaves than yours are, with outgrowths on their legs that look exactly like leaves.
The sweet letter has since gone viral on Twitter, racking up more than 63,000 likes on the platform.
Some parents shared similar stories in the Twitter thread, with one writing: "This is amazing! My son at age 7 read about a T. rex excavation, suddenly loved process more than dinos.
"We looked up author, found email. Son wrote Jack Horner (world's most famous palaeontologist) who immediately wrote back. Stayed in touch. Guess who's a palaeontologist now?
Praising Sir David for his lovely letter, one Twitter user added: "You can be 50 something and still get thrilled to every ounce of your inner child when this man replies to a letter.
"He is generosity and graciousness itself. Hope your lovely girl continues to enjoy her fascination with the natural world".
A third person said: "My daughter wrote to him a few years ago and received a lovely response in return. He's a true gentleman and scholar. If only he were in charge of the planet..."
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