This screener was sent to us by Aquavision TV Productions, sister company of Lion Mountain Media.
The only edits we made:
• Removed the slow motion so the runtime matches the audio
• Increased the audio volume
That’s it.
Now watch what actually happens. The mouse is clearly not wild. It doesn’t behave like a wild rodent at all. Instead of fleeing, it calmly approaches and sniffs the snake. There’s no meaningful survival response.
Listen to the background:
• You can hear traffic.
• You can hear the motor of a camera slider.
• When the snake strikes, a crew member says “Yes!”
If this were a genuine wild encounter, how did the crew have time to set up a motorised slider? Why is someone celebrating the strike?
Yes, snakes are fed mice in captivity. But that’s not what’s being presented here. This is framed as a natural, wild predation event.
In proper captive feeding situations, rodents are typically humanely euthanised first. Staging a live predation scene for dramatic “wild” footage:
• Misleads the audience
• Risks injury to the snake
• Can result in prolonged suffering for the rodent
In South Africa, where Lion Mountain Media is based, causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is illegal under animal welfare law.
Wildlife filmmaking depends on trust. If something is staged, audiences deserve to know.
Comments