Sir David Attenborough: The world wouldn't change hugely if the panda was extinct Sir David, who has spent decades raising awareness of the plight of animals, conceded the approach of focusing on attractive species "made sense," with a "useful" aim of getting the public interested in environmental matters. When asked whether extinction really mattered, and whether the disappearance of the Siberian tiger would make a difference to the planet, he told Radio Times magazine: "It's a mistake that conservationists have made [to focus on species such as this]. But it's a useful mistake. It made sense to concentrate on the disappearance of species that we care about, the charismatic species, in order to make people aware of what mankind is doing. "It's very easy to say, "The giant panda's disappearing." What you should be saying is that the ecosystem of which the giant panda is only a part is disappearing. Because the world wouldn't change hugely if we lost the panda. But if we see the disappearance of the bamboo forests on which the panda depends, that will disrupt the whole natural pattern of things. Sir David, 87, added the world had "quite enough problems" saving struggling animal species today to seriously consider bringing back the extinct. When asked about the likelihood of cloning the woolly mammoth, he told the magazine: I think it could conceivably happen, but to what end? It'd be a nice intellectual triumph for the scientists, but where's the poor thing going to live? Where's it going to find a mate? What's it going to do? We've got quite enough problems saving the species we've got without bringing old ones back. Sir David will soon present a new film, David Attenborough's Naturay History Museum Alive 3D, as well as Radio 4"s Tweet of the Day. His words echo sentiments by wildlife presenter Chris Packham, who earlier this year suggested environmental campaigners should stop wasting money trying to save "totemic symbols of cuteness" such as the giant panda. Arguing they should instead focus on more pressing conservation work, which would affect the whole landscape. Packham, the presenter of the BBC's Autumnwatch, said in October: "For too long we've toyed with single-species conservation which focused on individual animals and pouring huge resources into those at the expense of doing too little about others. It's not possible to save everything.