Planet Earth BBC1 9pm Today Great Plains

[Orang Utan]

I've witnessed pigeon necrophilia before

 

[Chorlton]

I've witnessed pigeon necrophilia before

Yeah i saw them open for lawnmower deth in the early 90s

 

[kyser_soze]

I remember the first time I saw a duck gang-bang. I was about 10 at the time

You were a country gal tho warn't ye? Maybe it's growing up around nature that makes you less wibbly about it, or certainly more accepting, of the differences and, to many human eyes, often appalling levels of violence and suffering that goes on in the animal world...

 

[Dan U]

I mentioned this on another thread but i was reading an interview with some of the cameramen who explained that as they track the animals they get to know them, know the family units and know which ones are which - as such they find themselves becoming quite attached and find it difficult to see them get ripped apart

yeah i guess so, having seen that programme about the elephants the other week (which was also ) i could see how you might if you were with one group of animals for a long time.

i just assumed they'd see a lot of hunting etc in nature and you would get a bit immune to it.

that last bit was one of the best so far of the 'behind the scenes' in both series.

 

[trashpony]

You were a country gal tho warn't ye? Maybe it's growing up around nature that makes you less wibbly about it, or certainly more accepting, of the differences and, to many human eyes, often appalling levels of violence and suffering that goes on in the animal world...

*removes ear of corn from side of mouth*

Yep

The gang-banging, the dead animals, the castrations - all make you a bit blase about animal violence.

I've got softer as I've got older though and now I'm such an urb.

 

[Louloubelle]

Thing is that goes completely against what good wildlife filming is about and would be little better than when Disney basically forced 000s of lemmings over a cliff to reinforce the myth of mass suicide. Think back to the 3rd or 4th ep when the little baby elephant got lost in the dust storm and separated from it's herd and headed off in the wrong direction across a dusty plain with the super-duper-zoom camera in the helicopter showing JUST how lost and alone the calf was...utterly heart rending, but it was good the crew let things take their course.

Personally I think that shooting a dying elephant is ethically a millions times beter than forcing lemmings off a cliff, especially when the elephant is slowly being eaten alive by lions over 2 days.

Of course there is validity in the argument that the crew shouldn't intervene but crews sometimes do. The times that come to mind for me are the baby penguin, trapped beneath the ice that was rescued by a camera woman and hte young flamingo that had the rocks of soda accumulating on it's legs to the point where it was weighed down like shackles and the crew removed the soda.

I don't see the harm in either of these actions, both miniscule in the scheme of things and both saved 2 little birds from pointless accidental deaths.

now with the massive bull elephant who was eaten alive over a very long period by lions I can see both sides.

One the one hand the elephant went through terrible and uneccessary suffering.

On the other had we got to see footage we've never seen before of an elephant being eaten alive while trumpeting for help. We got to see footage of the elephants family coming to try to help him during the day time when he was still alive and trying to get up. Then we got to see the next night of carnage with more being eaten alive and moe calling for help. Then we got to see the next day when the elephants returned to play with their dead family member's bones, although we don't know if they're mourning or what they're doing really.

should education make you feel guilty? Cos Planet Earth is as much about education as entertainment isn't it?

INo need to feel guilty about education and PE cut away from the really greusome and upsetting scenes which although they didn't show, having seem similar kills before I could imagine.

How many times do you need to see an elephant slowly being eaten alive to be educated?

I've seen enough to know exactly what happens and personally if I had a suitable rifle and knew how to use it safely, I'd put an elephant in the same situation out of its misery.

Personally I thought the pachyderm killing lions rocked, and it's a briliant example of a newly learned behaviour (that we're aware of anyway) in response to environmental changes, unlike that poor old male polar bear who hasn't been so successful in adapting to his new environment.

Personally I was in awe of the lions' courage and power, it was exciting to see the hunt, but the actual kill, and the fact that it takes a very long time, is very, very horrible to watch and I'm pleased that they didn't show the thing in its entirety.

 

[Louloubelle]

It kinda reminds me of the time I was relating a study of a pod of adolescent male dolphins to someone in a club, and they got really, really upset when I mentioned that this pod behaved like a gang and were observed to rape female dolphins, attack older dolphins and whale calves etc and started ranting about how dolphins couldn't do that sort of thing...

I remember that

because of course dolphins enjoy playing with dreamcatchers and smearing essential oils over each other. or something

 

[kyser_soze]

Yeah, but they is ickle fluffy critters, just like chimpanzees innit?

There's something disturbing about the image of dolphins smearing essential oils on each other that's creating an unknown dread in the back of my mind...