Chris Packham has spoken out about the complaints received from TV viewers regarding recent scenes shown during an episode of BBC Two's Springwatch.
The TV host, who fronts the wildlife programme alongside Michaela Strachan, addressed fans' concerns in a new interview, after many issued complaints about distressing scenes shown during Monday's (9 June) instalment of Springwatch.
The episode saw Michaela and Chris discuss the wildlife at Longshaw Estate. They looked at footage of a tawny owl and song thrushes, which soon took a gruesome turn as the owl killed the song thrush chicks.
BBC Two viewers branded the scenes "brutal" and "savage" on social media, with some even branding the BBC "heartless" for airing the footage.
Complaints made on social media included one which read: "Well done #springwatch. Tens of thousands of children now crying and in distress! They're not all heartless like you, horrible BBC.
Another comment from a Springwatch fan read: "That was brutal, but the owls have to do whatever is necessary to live #springwatch."
Chris has now addressed the controversial scenes, admitting that while they were "gruesome", it is the Springwatch team's job "to show the truth".
“That’s what happened. It is gruesome. Things eat one another. Did everyone who complained about that not go to a supermarket and buy some packaged meat and eat it all?" the TV show host, who is vegan, said in an interview with The i Paper.
He went on to talk about "public trust", saying that TV viewers have grown to trust Springwatch as they show the truth on the programme.
"Our job is to show the truth. If we hid that, we would lose public trust," Chris said. "We’ve earned public trust over years and years of making natural history programmes by telling people the truth, and sometimes owls eat one another. Yum, yum.”
Elsewhere, Chris spoke about "climate breakdown" and warned that it is "manifesting in front of our eyes", with the changes observed being "phenomenal" and "terrifying".
He vowed to do everything he could with his "small amount of power" to "effect change", with Springwatch acting as a method of communicating that urgency.
Springwatch continues on BBC Two at 8pm on Thursday, 12 June. All episodes of Springwatch are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
