On a hot summer day in 1961, David Attenborough, who was filming "Zoo Exploration", took over some huge pieces of eggshell from a local boy in Madagascar. The fragments were found by the boy on a sand-covered riverbed. They belong to the world's largest bird, the extinct half-ton elephant bird. Great changes have taken place since David filmed "Zoo Exploration" in Madagascar: 80% of the rainforest has been destroyed, while the population has quadrupled, and more than 50 endemic mammal species are on the brink of extinction. Can Attenborough's precious eggshell fragments explain the disappearance of ancient elephant birds? Can we learn from the fate of elephant birds how to save Madagascar's wildlife?
