David Attenborough’s Dynasties crew break rules again as viewers left in tears over dying lion cub

The one-year-old cub was abandoned by his mother 
Emma Powell26 November 2018

The crew of Sir David Attenborough’s Dynasties broke the rule of no intervention for a second time this series to alert vets to a poisoned lion cub while shooting in Africa.

The third and final instalment of the BBC series followed lions in Kenya’s Masai Mara as they face poisoning from humans.

One lioness, named Charm, was forced to abandon her youngest male cub after he ate poisoned meat and struggled to keep up with the pride.

One emotional cameraman said: “It’s just entirely wrong, isn’t it? Lions are so endangered.”

Abandoned: Charm left her dying son to follow the pride
BBC

A veterinary crew were then filmed racing to the scene in a bid to save the young cub. But what viewers were unaware of was how their arrival was a result of members of the film crew calling for help.

The Mara Mobile Veterinary Unit recorded what happened in an incident report, which noted the pride “were seen during the morning behaving strangely by a BBC crew filming them”.

The report continued: “They informed Masai Mara National Reserve Management and Governor’s Camp management, who in turn sought the veterinary unit’s help.”

Tough decisions: Charm with her dying son
BBC

Viewers were reduced to tears as they watched the unsuccessful rescue mission with one tweeting: “Crying! That poor baby! I’m so glad the wildlife vet got involved and tried to save him. So tough to watch.”

Another posted: “#Dynasties lions. So hard to film the poisoned lions. Couldn’t see to focus for tears. @BBCEarth.”

A third wrote: “Lump in my throat, tears in my eyes again! #Dynasties.”

The move comes a week after crew members stepped in to save a waddle of penguins after they became stuck in a gully, separated from their colony.

One cameraman was close to tears as he watched them battling the elements as they struggled to haul themselves out. “I know it's natural, but it's bloody hard to watch,” he said.

The crew then made the decision to take drastic action and dig a shallow ramp to help save the penguins.

Addressing the decision, BBC Earth tweeted: “In an unprecedented move, the crew decided to act.

“They dug a shallow ramp in the hope that at least some of the penguins would use it to save themselves #Dynasties.”

The crew’s decision to step in comes after they previously hit back at claims they should have stepped into save a baby elephant dying from dehydration on BBC series, Africa.

Producer James Honeyborne told The Sun, at the time: “The death of the baby elephant was something we hadn’t planned and was something we could not prevent. We wished we could have but it was impossible.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in