Planet Earth II’s stunning golden eagle segment slammed for being ‘FAKE’ after BBC admits using trained bird
Will this deter viewers from tuning in?
A GOLDEN eagle that featured on last weekend’s episode of Planet Earth II wasn’t even a wild animal.
Experts actually strapped cameras to a trained bird that was in captivity, the BBC revealed.
As Sir David Attenborough’s popular BBC documentary has already raked in the viewers this year, it’s no surprise that some fans will be left scratching their heads over this revelation.
A segment from Sunday night showed an eagle flying above a stunning snowy terrain at 200mph with a small camera attached to its back.
Viewers were so captivated by the gripping footage that they took to social media to share their thoughts.
One Twitter user admitted: “Golden eagle segment in #planetearth2 is so beautiful and astonishing that I am actually crying?”
More viewers described the moment as “spell-binding”, while another exclaimed that it was “just amazing”.
Even though dozens of Planet Earth fans lapped up the clever camera tricks, some questioned how the team managed to attach the technology to a wild bird.
One asked: “How tf did they put a camera on this damn eagle… I want answers @BBCEarth #planetearth2.”
Another questioned: “Am just watching #planetearth2 and was wondering how you strap a @GoPro to an eagle.”
One viewer even took to social media to describe the episode as "100% fake".
Although some of the eagle footage was filmed by cameramen in the Alps, this wasn’t the case for the flight scene.
This clip was actually shot using a bird that was trained up to carry a camera, rather than a regular creature from the wild.
On the Planet Earth II episode, David Attenborough said: "Revealing a new perspective on the life of golden eagles in the mountains would take two very different approaches.
"A traditional wildlife crew set out to film wild eagles closer than ever before, whilst an aerial team aimed to capture the hunting flights of eagles high in the mountains."
Despite this, the experienced presenter didn’t fully explain how they shot the flight footage.
It’s only a behind-the-scenes clip from the BBC website that gives fans the answers.
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During the video, trainer Jacques Oliver Travers said: “For this footage, we decided with the producer since the beginning to use an on-board camera.
“We’d have to train the bird to carry this camera on its back.
“You can’t see it, but he has a small harness all around his body, very well adapted to his body.
“We’ve fixed a small camera, a very light one, and the shape is perfect.
“And now (the eagle) Slovak is ready to become a cameraman."
He added: "At the end I think the result is really amazing.
"I'm very proud [of] the bird, I think he did an amazing job and I think people will be very surprised to see for the first time what an eagle can see when he flies from a very high location."
A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "This story is based on our making of script, our making of film and the Planet Earth II website where we have openly shared material with our audiences."
It’s not the first Planet Earth II moment that has left viewers feeling divided.
Last weekend, fans claimed that they felt “uncomfortable” watching a ‘rape’ scene involving two snow leopards.