Viewers of the latest documentary series presented by David Attenborough have been left heartbroken after seeing an orangutan attempt to fight away a digger as it tries to destroy its home.
The horrendous footage was aired as part of Sir Dave's BBC show Climate Change: The Facts last night. As the digger approaches and begins ripping down a tree, the giant orangutan flies towards it attempting to beat it away from ruining the forest.
Eventually, after crashing its giant fists down upon the metal digger, it is forced to give up and climbs away looking dejected.
To make matters worse, the footage then shows some of the workers who are involved in cutting down the forest shooing the great ape away, leaving it banished from its home forever.
The aim of the clip is to educate people about the massive cost that the global palm oil industry is having on animals and their habitats across the world.
Massive amounts of forest that is rich with plant and animal life has been cleared across South East Asia to make way for palms to be planted.
This means that palm oil - which is found in a huge amount of household goods that we use every single day - is responsible for destroying some of the most valuable and varied habitats on earth.
Viewers of the show were left gobsmacked by the tragic and embarrassing reality of what human demands for products is doing to these poor creatures.
A lot of them took to Twitter to express their sadness.
One person said: "I will never, ever countenance that destroying the home of an orangutan is worth anything that could possibly 'want' or 'need'."
Another commented: "The orangutan trying to stop the workers destroying his home speaks volumes! Animals are an innocent bystander as humans destroy the planet."
A third added: "Why are humans doing this?? Heartbreaking and truly awful footage....leave these beautiful creatures and their homes alone."
The show is intended to get across how serious the problem of climate change is. On the show, the 92-year-old veteran broadcaster Attenborough referred to climate change as the greatest threat that humankind has faced in thousands of years.
He said: "Right now we are facing our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change.
"At the current rate of warming we risk a devastating future.
"The science is now clear that urgent action is needed. What happens now and in these next few years will profoundly affect the next few thousand years.
"We are facing a man-made disaster on a global scale.
"It may sound frightening but the scientific evidence is that if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade we could face irreversible damage of the natural world, and the collapse of our societies."
If you haven't seen it yet, Climate Change: The Facts is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: World News, TV and Film, News, Animals
