'Our Planet' viewers left in tears during baby flamingo scene

If you're looking for a nature documentary that shows animals happily living their best lives, Netflix's Our Planet is not the one to watch.

The David Attenborough-narrated show only came out on April 5, but it has already left thousands of viewers emotionally broken, as they witness the horrific harm that humans have inflicted upon millions of innocent creatures all over the world.

The makers of the show didn't ease viewers slowly into the tragedy, with one of the most heartbreaking moments coming in the very first episode of the eight-part series.

About 16 minutes into the episode, which is titled One Planet, audiences were shown how climate change affects East African lesser flamingos in Tanzania's Serengeti Desert.

Here's the devastating scene that's left audiences in tears:

The smallest species of flamingo primarily feed on a form of algae which only grows in very alkaline lakes, making the country's salt-filled shallow lakes, lagoons and wetlands, hotspots.

However, the high temperatures from the scorching sun have dried up the acidic water on the plains and the flock are forced to flee across the vast salt plains.

With hundreds of babies who can't fly, they must walk up to 50km to locate fresh water - but if the flamingos don't move fast, the salt will solidify around their legs.

Credit: Netflix

With the salt dragging it back, one tiny baby is seen failing to keep up, with its whole family speeding ahead.

As the salt pulls on its legs, the chick stumbles, before hitting the ground. It picks itself up, but it is not known if it managed to survive and reunite with its family.

While narrating, Sir David adds that perfect birthing conditions for the flamingoes may only happen once in a decade.

Unsurprisingly, the scene greatly disturbed viewers, with hundreds taking to social media to describe how they were moved to tears by the tiny flamingo's plight.

The devastating footage brought home the reality that climate change is affecting every creature on the planet, with @ElanMaree writing: "I’ve watched two episodes of Our Planet and seeing the impact climate change has on wildlife is heartbreaking. I cried for the baby flamingo left stranded". [sic]

"Thought I would just watch Our Planet before going to sleep but no, this baby flamingo with salt legs is making my heart HURT [sic]," added @katmillsm, while @DaniB posted saying: "THE BABY FLAMINGO THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT TO THE FRESH DRINKING WATER WITH THE REST OF ITS CLAN!! I CANNOT #OurPlanet". [sic]

Needless to say, the baby flamingo scene isn't the only moment in Our Planet that has left audiences in tears. An agonising segment in the second episode showed walruses plummeting off the edge of a cliff and falling to their deaths, as a result of melting ice and their own poor eyesight.

Here is the agonising footage:

In fact, the show has so many distressing scenes, that Netflix has taken to Twitter to warn animal lovers that they may want to avoid certain moments.

If scenes like these don't convince us to care about climate change, what will?