strange Planet Earth question

[TheTenth]

I still have in my head the image of a young elephant, who, after his herd was attacked by predators, was separated from his herd who was going to find some water to survive, and the commentator explained he followed the tracks in the wrong way, with almost no hope of finding water.
Is there any way to know if the filming team somehow helps animals they see in need during filming, or is there some interdiction (ethical or legal) to intervene in the natural life?

[DavePS3]

That's true. I've seen nature doc's that say there are times the crew really wants to intervene especially in an unfair situation but they cannot. Personally I think I would sometimes so it's probably good I'm not on those crews I suppose. Although in the instance you bring up, I'm not sure what they could have done with trying to get the elephant turned around.

[Al_The_Strange]

It makes sense though; their goals are to capture nature as it is, raw and unbiased, and purely objective. To interfere with the natural world during filming would skew the observation and objectivity.

We also wouldn't see as many tense videos of animals chasing, attacking, and eating their prey.

[murricator]

Along the same lines... there is an amazing scene in Encounters at the End of the World (A docu about antarctica) in which a "deranged" penguin heads away from the sea and into the mainland, surely to die. The filmmakers and the locals were told to stand still and allow the penguin to pass even though the direction would likely lead to starvation and death.

[HD Man]

If that's the case, I could never serve on a film crew as I would flat out interfere, even if it is only to give an animal a "chance" to survive for another day. Nature will eventually run its course but not if I had an opportunity to do anything about it.

Reminds me of the Pulitizer prize winning photo of a vulture waiting for a young girl to die in the Sudan of starvation and the photographer didn't do anything to help and it haunted him until he committed suicide years later.

[Gaius Marius]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

It makes sense though; their goals are to capture nature as it is, raw and unbiased, and purely objective. To interfere with the natural world during filming would skew the observation and objectivity.

We also wouldn't see as many tense videos of animals chasing, attacking, and eating their prey.

The predator scenes are always interesting. For most people, gut instinct roots for the 'poor' prey. They don't realize, however, that if the predator fails, they risk starvation and, possibly, death. Nature is a harsh *****

[540Blue]

I was just discussing this exact scene with my girlfriend. I assumed that they were always told to not intervene and to let things play out as nature intended.

[Jim Purcell]

Wasn't that scene from Disney's Earth? And I recall in the narrator commentary they said as natural filmographers they could not intervene.

[chele519]

A few years ago on Meerkat Manor the matriarch died of a snake bite. The crew buried her and they specifically mentioned that normally, they would not do anything that interferes with nature but they made an exception in that case.

[TheTenth]

thanks for the answers, somehow knew the answer so I'll trust nature's judgement on this litlle elephant's chances at survival