A harsh scene from the animal world: cannibalism among Arctic foxes amid a lack of food (8 photos + 2 videos)
Category: Terrible (all news), Animals
28 April 2024
Sir David Attenborough's Mammals is airing on BBC One, a six-episode series. One of them shows how starving Arctic foxes (Arctic foxes) eat the carcass of a dead relative. Why do they have to do this? 
The episode shows foxes fighting over a carcass on the shores of Hudson Bay in Canada. A sad but vital sight. In this heartbreaking moment from the BBC series Mammals, desperate Arctic foxes are seen feeding on one of their brothers, who is believed to have collapsed and starved to death.
Rising temperatures in the Arctic have caused the sea to freeze late in the year, and without sea ice, foxes cannot hunt.
Desperate and starving, Arctic foxes resort to cannibalism to survive in one of the creepiest and saddest scenes ever filmed by the BBC.
Sir David Attenborough's wildlife film explores how animals are adapting to life in the face of climate change
Sir David tells viewers that only time will tell if the species can survive in the long term.
“Arctic foxes form amazing alliances with polar bears,” he says. “It’s the end of the year, and both species are waiting for the sea to freeze. When it freezes, polar bears will again be able to hunt seals in the ice, and arctic foxes will eat their scraps. But now both are hungry and forced to wait. Ten days have passed and still no sea ice is visible. For Arctic foxes, the situation is becoming desperate. The wait for one arctic fox is long... Starving survivors can't ignore this opportunity. Desperation has led to cannibalism, which is increasingly common in the Arctic."
The new wildlife series has received rave reviews from critics and viewers. Although some viewers suggested that the elephants in one of the episodes "look like computer graphics."
We are talking about scenes of African elephants walking through the city at night in Zimbabwe.
Mammals assistant producer Sarah-Jane Walsh confirmed it was all real, filmed on camera with low light and high ISO - a setting for brighter images in dark conditions.
Another production assistant, Harriet Lawrence, said finding the elephants was difficult, with the team using thermal imaging scopes to spot them in dark alleys.
The final episode of the six-part series, Cold, will air on 21 April on BBC One at 7pm.
