Even the crew of Sir David Attenborough’s documentary series broke down in tears in the third and final instalment of the BBC series.
The cameramen were so moved by the emotional scenes that they even broke their rule of not interfering with nature for the second time this series – alerting vets to a poisoned lion cub while shooting in Kenya's Masai Mara.
A lioness was forced to abandon her youngest male cub after he ate meat that had been poisoned by humans and struggled to keep up with the pride.
Taking to social media in reaction to the devastating scenes, one fan wrote: "BBCs #Dynasties May as well be called 'if you have never shed a tear about a Lion you will now'."
Another added: "Charm has had to abandon her young cub all because some stupid person poisoned bait. I’m so angry and upset. That isn’t nature."
A third couldn't help making a Lion King reference, quipping: "Really hoping this little cub comes across a warthog and meerkat that teach him to survive."
Viewers at home saw the Mara Mobile Veterinary Unit race to try and save the young cub – unaware that the only reason they knew about the incident was because members of the film crew called for help.
The veterinary crew noted that the lions had been seen "behaving strangely" by a BBC film crew, which is why they attempted to save the cub.
Unfortunately, they weren't successful in their rescue mission – with the baby lion dying from the poison.
Speaking while filming, one emotional cameraman said of the scenes: "It’s just entirely wrong, isn’t it? Lions are so endangered."
Attenborough’s nature documentaries are renowned for capturing but not interfering with wildlife, however, earlier in the Dynasties series his crew also stepped in to save a group of penguins after they got separated from their colony.
A cameraman held back tears as he watched the penguins try to get themselves out of a gully that they had become stuck in, saying: "I know it's natural, but it's bloody hard to watch."
The crew then made the unprecedented decision to dig a shallow ramp to try and save the penguins – with the show's producer previously being forced to hit back at claims that they should have stepped in to save a dying baby elephant on the Africa series.
James Honeyborne told us at the time: "The death of the baby elephant was something we hadn’t planned and was something we could not prevent.
"We wished we could have but it was impossible."
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