Just last week, David Attenborough’s ‘Dynasties’ crew hit the news after stepping in and saving a load of trapped penguins.

The crew, who were filming emperor penguins brave the cruel Antarctic winter, decided to take drastic action and dig a shallow ramp so help save some of the birds, something Attenborough is usually dead against.

And in this week’s episode, the crew were forced to break the rule of no intervention once again in order to alert vets to a poisoned lion cub while shooting in Africa.

The third instalment of the hit series followed lions in Kenya’s Masai Mara as they face poisoning from humans; one lioness, 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.”

The crew were filmed running to the scene to save the young cub, which was actually as 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.”

Viewers were understandably heartbroken at seeing the unsuccessful rescue attempt, tweeting:

The official BBC Earth Twitter handle acknowledged that they did all they could to help but sadly couldn’t save the animal.

 

This came after a tense moment between a young lion, Red, who was exploring the outside of his pride’s territory, and a group of 20 hyenas who surrounded him.

Fortunately his cousin Tatu came in to rescue him and viewers couldn’t handle the drama:

What an incredible programme.

Images via BBC/Getty