Bruce Parry, a former Royal Marine, has been exploring the lives of indigenous peoples in the most remote corners of the world for 20 years through his documentary series, Tribe. The BBC show, which first aired in 2005, has taken Mr Parry to various locations, including the Himalayas, Gabon, Ethiopia, West Papua, and Mongolia, where he immerses himself in local cultures and learns about their unique practices and traditions.
In his latest three-part BBC series, Mr Parry lives among three isolated communities worldwide. He participates in sacred rituals with Colombia’s Waimaha people, resides among Angola’s Mucubal community, and visits Indonesia’s Marapu. In Angola, the 56-year-old was faced with a distressing situation while filming with an indigenous tribe.
After being gifted a goat by one of the tribe’s leaders, the BBC presenter was instructed to kill the animal, as refusing to do so would be considered rude. Following the tribe’s customs, where animals serve as a source of sustenance, gifts, and currency, Mr Parry reluctantly suffocated the goat to avoid wasting its blood, which is deemed nutritious.
In the scene, Mr Parry, with the assistance of the Mucubal community members, held down a screaming goat as he reluctantly suffocated it by covering its mouth and nose. The goat violently convulsed before eventually stopping, and Mr Parry was informed that the animal had died.
Although he found the experience extremely distressing, describing it as the “most gruesome thing” he’s ever been part of, Mr Parry recognized the cultural significance of this ritual. “I knew how that was going to feel to some members of the audience,” he said, adding that some might see it as “barbaric”.
Speaking about it during the show, Mr Parry said: “I wasn’t given any time to consider it or anything, it’s like they held it and said you have to hold this now…so I did. It’s a very odd feeling, feeling the life force of an animal disappear in your own hands…not a feeling I’d necessarily want to have again.”
Ahead of the show’s release, he told Radio Times, “It was difficult, suffocating a goat. But I could be the most ethically minded person at home in the UK, but still by simply getting on a bus, I will have a much larger impact on the planet than any one of these people. Who am I to judge them?”
Viewers of the show were left stunned and disturbed by the graphic scene, with many users expressing their discomfort.