Sir David Attenborough finds himself at the center of another scandal over deceptive filmmaking.
Back in the spring, he was accused of deceiving viewers when he claimed, in his Netflix show Our Planet, that walruses were falling off Siberian clifftops as a result of climate change.
This was shown to be untrue by Canadian biologist and mammal expert Dr. Susan Crockford, who described the abundant scientific literature, dating back many decades, showing that walruses have always taken to the land, and even fallen from clifftops.
She also pointed out that the footage Attenborough used to make his case seemed to have come from a well-documented incident when walruses had been driven over cliffs by polar bears.
Yesterday, in his new BBC documentary Seven Worlds, One Planet, Attenborough again showed falling walruses, but this time making it quite clear that polar bears were driving them off the cliff.
Remarkably, however, the footage he used appears to be from the same incident and shot by the same cameraman as shown in his Netflix documentary, despite the producers’ claims at the time that no bears had been in the vicinity.
Attenborough, therefore, seems to be tacitly admitting that the claims he made in the Netflix film, and the denials issued by the show’s camera team and producers, were untrue.
GWPF director Dr. Benny Peiser welcomed Attenborough’s climb-down.
“We can only be pleased that Sir David has stepped back from the deceptive claims he made in his Netflix show.
He and the producers should apologize for the trick they pulled and withdraw the Netflix film that has badly misled and unnecessarily traumatized millions of people and news media around the world”.
The whole fake thing of suicidal Walrus and Attenborough is up the creek without a paddle Yeah I did once read where he was once knocked off his feet by a angry Grouse called Capricalli
Unfortunately David Attenborough has become the premier front man pushing the BBC’s climate change propaganda.
Yeah, he’s just a lying shill for the AGW propaganda for sure.
Did this revelation by Dr Crockford contribute to her shunning by UVic?
I doubt that this alone could have done it but perhaps the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back? Her research showing that polar bear populations are not threatened by any reduction in sea ice was the most likely cause.
David Attenborough IS a walrus. Perhaps he can demonstrate for the world what happens when falling from a high place or being attacked by a polar bear. I’m sure many would like to watch that. Meanwhile, I’m quite certain that no animal on earth actually subsists on ice. Polar bears use ice to travel between feeding areas, but the ice is useless as a means to give them nourishment.