In 1954 David Attenborough was a young television producer with an unused zoology degree; along with London Zoo curator Jack Lester, he dreamed up the idea of taking a film crew into the wild as rare and elusive animals were captured for the zoo's collection, resulting in the pioneering BBC series Zoo Quest. Attenborough's fascinating account of the show's early voyages finds him staying with local villagers while trekking after giant anteaters in Guyana, Komodo dragons in Indonesia, and armadillos in Paraguay. In his run-ins with cannibal fish, aggressive tree porcupines, and escape-prone wild pigs, Attenborough makes us fall in love with the natural world—a mission he has continued over six decades.