The Saiga antelope fell victim to a bacterial infection during the filming of Planet Earth II (Picture: BBC)

A production crew working on Planet Earth II were reportedly left traumatised after around 150,000 antelope died in front of them over the course of three days filming.

The episode, entitled Grasslands – which is due to air on Sunday night – sees David Attenborough introduce viewers to the Saiga antelope, an endangered species which is found primarily in Kazakhstan and Russia.

But as producer Chadden Hunter recalls, those working on the show were witness to the tragic deaths – caused by a bacterial infection which swept through the herd – to the point that they were even concerned for their future survival.


‘At the time we thought we were watching the greatest natural catastrophe that I’d ever heard of,’ he told the Mirror.



‘We watched 150,000 of these magnificent animals die in front of us.

He added: ‘At the time we didn’t know if it was the final extinction of the species, which was devastating, emotionally, for the crew.’

According to reports around 200,000 antelope were killed by the infection which struck in early 2015 – but incredibly, many also survived – including those who were filmed for the show.

David Attenborough’s show has been raking in the viewers (Picture: BBC)

‘It was a potent reminder of how fragile yet resilient nature can be,’ Chadden pointed out.

Planet Earth II: Grasslands is on Sunday night on BBC One at 8pm.

MORE: Planet Earth II’s Bat V Scorpion was way better than Batman V Superman, according to viewers

MORE: Planet Earth II’s flying jungle lizards shock viewers with glorious WTF moment