David Attenborough's Asia fans spot NSFW recurrence in latest episode

"There's children watching, Dave!" tweeted one person.

Asia,26-10-2024,Tangled Worlds,4,A wild male Bengal tiger cub resting on a river bank in community-owned forest in western Nepal. Tigers visit the river frequently during the buildup to the monsoon, to drink and cool off. ,Marie Bell,Marie Bell
A wild male Bengal tiger cub in the latest episode of David Attenborough's docuseries (BBC/Marie Bell)

David Attenborough's spellbinding new series Asia resumed on Sunday, 24 November, with some viewers noticing a particularly NSFW recurrence on display.

In the Tangled Worlds episode, the breeding habits of both Bengal tigers and purple frogs were respectfully documented in the first 20 minutes.

Always with a sense of amusement, fans reacting on social media site X (formerly Twitter) were quick to highlight the continuous coverage of animal intimacy.

A pair of purple frogs during Asia's monsoon season (BBC screenshot)
A pair of purple frogs during Asia's monsoon season (BBC screenshot)

Narrating an expanse of the tiger's territory, Attenborough explained: "It's the dry season. Between the trees, meadows of elephant grass provide cover for the most intimate of behaviours. In the last 10 years, the number of tigers in Nepal has doubled.

"There are so many here that remarkably, pairs are mating within just 100 metres of each other."

The corresponding action finished with the striped predators going their separate ways, as males do not engage in any parental duties.

Read more:

Further along, deep in the forests of India's Kerala state, the programme featured the plight of the purple frog, which emerge once every 12 months from their underground lair to breed.

"This female has a belly full of eggs and on her back a newly acquired male partner," said Attenborough. "He grips her spine, making deep indentations in her flesh. They have timed their emergence to coincide with the monsoon rains. Somehow in the darkness they must find a tree in which to lay their eggs and then get back underground before dawn."

Writing on X, one Asia fan joked: "Crap [can] we even show tiger mating this early in the day? There's children watching, Dave!"

"Lots of rumpy [pumpy] in this episode this week!" echoed somebody else.

A young Asian elephant feeds using its trunk (BBC screenshot)
A young Asian elephant feeds using its trunk (BBC screenshot)

Meanwhile, cameras later captured a herd of Asian elephants easily dismantling electric fences to reach plantations full of food.

Attenborough revealed that Malaysian farmers have begun to encourage the enormous creatures onto their land; "Here the elephants are welcome. When old trees are felled, the herd can provide a waste disposal service."

Asia airs Sundays on BBC One, while the entire series is now streamable on BBC iPlayer.