Complaints about lack of trigger warning after BBC posts image of leopard carrying dead baboon

Critics have ridiculed users of “snowflake” social media who complained after BBC Wildlife magazine failed to add a trigger warning to an image of a leopard carrying a dead baboon in its jaws, while its baby was clinging to his corpse.

Some Instagram users were offended that BBC Wildlife magazine failed to warn viewers when they revealed the image, which was posted to promote the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest.

One wrote: ‘Yeah it’s nature blah blah blah but JEEEEEEZ! My #BlueMonday was shit enough without needing this punch in the face!

Another said: ‘I’m unfollowing. You absolutely should not have posted this without a warning!’

But other users ridiculed the complaints, with one insisting: “It’s not graphic or tacky, it’s reality.”

The photograph was taken by Igor Altuna in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park.

The leopard cub played with the baby baboon for over an hour before killing it.

In response to the BBC post, another person complained: “I used to love seeing animals and wildlife, but not this horror.”

“Most of us are not used to this behavior, so it is necessary to respect sensitivities and warn about content. it is empathy.

A fourth wrote: ‘I agree with many of you that this should have come with a warning first.

Some Instagram users were offended that BBC Wildlife magazine did not issue a “trigger warning” when they revealed the image, which was posted to promote a shortlist for a nature photography award.

‘I also had a terrible day and would rather have a choice in what I see. So also unfollow.

“For those of you who are saying things like ‘people can’t cope these days/Mother Nature is brutal etc.’ they want to see things like this to add to their pain or difficulty, in the feed.

They added: ‘I only follow uplifting things to balance my world. My job is hard and harrowing at times.

I would have liked the option, as many others have said. There is no need to be disrespectful or ignorant of people’s daily struggles.’

Others criticized those who complained about the lack of a content warning.

Another said: ‘Don’t follow nature then. It’s what happens! Yes, it’s a compelling image. But don’t forget that Cheetah [sic] it’s just doing what comes naturally. He has to kill to survive and probably has his own pups to feed.

One person who did not take issue with the image said: ‘Amazing shot.

It’s also surprising that people feel the need to comment that this image needs a “warning”. It is not graphic or tasteless, it is reality.

‘This is nature, and nature is as brutal as it is beautiful.

“BBC Wildlife is a publisher that shares media about nature, and this photo documents a rare and incredible moment… in nature.

“If you can’t handle this photo, definitely never go on safari.”

Another told those who complained not to “follow nature then”, adding that the leopard was only “doing what is natural”.

The image was posted to promote the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2022 – People’s Choice Award Competition.

There are 25 shortlisted images in total, chosen from 38,575 entries submitted from around the world.

Voting closes at 2pm on Thursday, February 2.

The contest began in the 1960s and was first organized by the BBC’s Animals magazine, now called Wildlife magazine.

The contest became increasingly popular, and in the mid-1980s it joined forces with the National Museum of History, which now organizes the contest and its accompanying exhibition.