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Statement regarding Frozen Planet filming process

BBC Press Office

12 December 2011

As the Polar Bear is such an important part of the programme, we felt that the birthing process was a pivotal part of the story, which had to be told. It would be quite impossible for our cameras to film inside a den in the wild without disturbing the female. For this reason the polar bear den sequence was filmed in controlled conditions.
We also ensured the narration was carefully worded so it didn't mislead the audience and talked in general about polar bears in the wild rather than the specific cubs shown. This type of filming is standard practice across the industry when creating natural history programmes.
A BBC spokesperson said: "This particular sequence would be impossible to film in the wild. The commentary accompanying the sequence is carefully worded so it doesn't mislead the audience and the way the footage was captured is clearly explained on the programme website."
For more information about how the sequence was created visit the Frozen Planet website where producer Kathryn Jeffs explains the process in more detail
BBC Press Office