'We're sorry you're upset, but that's nature': Producer of Attenborough's BBC Africa series defends emotional scenes which have left viewers in tears

One scene showed elephant apparently mourning over her dying calf

Creators deny the 'intimate' music 'told viewers how to feel'

BBC producers have hit back at accusations that its Africa series manipulated viewers by exaggerating 'emotional' scenes from nature.

Sir David Attenborough's latest venture left many animal-lovers in tears, with scenes including one in which a mother elephant appeared to leave her herd to mourn over her dying calf.

In the same episode, a mother shoebill was shown feeding and watering only her stronger chick, leaving the other to die of malnutrition.

Heartbreaking: A scene in which an elephant appears to grieve over her dying calf was distressing for many viewers

All alone: Another storyline followed a shoebill feeding and watering only her stronger chick, leaving the other to die of malnutrition

One viewer wrote on Twitter: 'That poor baby elephant and the poor mother having to watch her baby die! #tears had to stop eating my dinner. BBC #Africa warn me next time.'



Another added: 'How heartbreaking watching the baby elephant calf die and the mother can only walk away. I'm in tears here.'

Wild about Africa: The producers of the David Attenborough show defended the series, saying it reflected what happen in nature

Of a scene featuring rhinoceroses, another viewer said: 'Rhinos meeting down the local watering hole for a quick snog, we're all the same really, amazing.'



The show's creators were also accused of using using music to create an emotional narrative.

But producer James Honeyborne insisted that the six-part series reflected the 'breadth of what happens in nature.'

He told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: 'I don't think we do tell you what to feel, but we do lay open the broad pallet of what is happening in nature - and some of it is joyous and some of it is tough to watch.'

The corporation received 16 complaints about the background music and 16 about the elephant calf's death.

'We are obviously concerned that some viewers have been upset,' said Mr Honeyborne. 'As soon as you look at an animal not as a species but as an individual, you do get drawn in and your empathy for that individual character will increase.



'It is part of the process of looking deeper and creating that more immersive experience.'



He denied that the programme’s score 'told viewers how to feel' at different points.

'We’ve always used music in our films,' he said. 'The music tends to reflect what is happening in the film, so if we’re telling an intimate story then the music will indeed be intimate too.'



The first episode of Africa received 6.5 million viewers.