This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The BBC has admitted that a scene from a television documentary series showing tribal people living high up in treehouses was faked by the makers of the programme.

An episode of the eight-part Human Planet series, which aired in 2011, depicted the life of the Korowai people of Papua New Guinea and included members moving into a treehouse.

The BBC said that during the making of a new documentary series for BBC2, entitled My Year With The Tribe, it emerged that the treehouse scene had been staged.

A member of the tribe told the makers of the new series that they built the treehouses “for the benefit of overseas programme makers”.

In a statement the BBC said: “The BBC has been alerted to a breach of editorial standards in an episode of Human Planet from 2011 which concerns the Korowai people of Papua New Guinea.

“During the making of BBC Two’s upcoming documentary series My Year With The Tribe, a member of the tribe discusses how they have built very high treehouses for the benefit of overseas programme makers.

“The BBC has reviewed a sequence in Human Planet depicting this and found that the portrayal of the tribe moving into the treehouse as a real home is not accurate.”

It is not the first time that the eight-part series, narrated by the actor John Hurt, has been embroiled in a fakery scandal. In 2015 it emerged that the production crew used a semi-domesticated wolf after being unable to find a “wild” wolf to film on location.

In that episode, called Deserts: Life in the Furnace, two Mongolian camel herders fired shots in the direction of the “wild” wolf as it ran across the Gobi desert then discussed their frustration at failing to kill it.

The BBC admitted that in reality the semi-domesticated wolf had been let off a lead just off camera and was filmed simply running to its handler, who was just out of shot.

In 2011 it emerged that the BBC had filmed shots of a tarantula spider in a studio for an episode about wildlife in the Venezuela jungle.

The BBC said: “Since this programme was broadcast in 2011 we have strengthened our mandatory training for all staff in editorial guidelines, standards and values.”