There’s no doubt that Planet Earth II has captured the imagination of the British public and who can blame them.
Our favourite national treasure Sir David Attenborough is at the forefront, narrating the lives of some of the world’s most exotic creatures and alongside their new camera gear, it means we can see them more up close then ever before.
And it’s created some memorable moments, who can seriously forget that sea iguanas epic run to freedom against an army of racer snakes? No-one, that’s who.
Heck, it’s even managed to turn people away from the dying ‘talent’ show X-Factor– finally, a bit of faith restored in humanity.
But as you’d expect, filming such jaw-dropping footage of the animal kingdom does have its risks, as the production crew found out when they were filming out in Harar, Ethiopia, The Mirror reports.
As part of the ‘Cities’ episode, which focuses on how animals and humans co-exist as our population grows and impacts their habitat, the team got caught up in a battle between dozens of hyenas.
It turns out that around 120 animals stage regular gang fights to decide who can enter the city at night to sleep and feed on the bones left by local butchers.
The Cities Episode Producer, Fredi Devas, told The Mirror:
I’ve always found hyenas to be quite terrifying animals. In Harar in Ethiopia one night, we were surrounded by more than a hundred of them, fighting. They were extraordinary. There are two hyena clans who regularly use the city. To work out who gets access, they go to a place outside the city limits and have a fight.
A piece of ground where they can meet up like the gangs in Westside Story and have it out. They really fight. You’ve got a hundred around you, running around your feet and legs en masse, turning on each other. You do think that if they turned on you, you’re gone. That’s it. If they decided that we were the problem, that would be that. But they don’t.
Rather them than us, that’s all we can say.
