Netflix viewers have been reduced to tears by a heartbreaking scene involving orangutans in the latest David Attenborough documentary.

The scene in question comes from A Life On Our Planet, David Attenborough's new feature-length documentary on Netflix, which, in one segment, explores the deforestation wrought by the palm oil industry.

Take a look at the heartbreaking scene in the video below:

In the scene above, the renowned broadcaster and documentary filmmaker states:

"Many of the millions of species in the forests exist in small numbers. Everyone has a critical role to play. Orangutan mothers have to spend 10 years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating.

"Without this training, they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds. The future generations of many tree species would be at risk."

In a voiceover, Attenborough continues:

"Tree diversity is the key to a rainforest. In a single small patch of tropical rainforest there could be 700 different species of tree - as many as there are in the whole of north America."

"And yet this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into. A monoculture of oil palm, a habitat that is dead in comparison."

"There is a double incentive to cut down forests: people benefit from the timber, and then benefit again from farming the land that's left behind. Which is why we've cut down three trillion trees across the world - half of the world's rainforests have already been cleared."

The footage in the documentary then showed a number of orangutans from a half-filled forest in Borneo, clinging on to the last vestiges of their treetop home, while machinery begins to carve up what few trees are left to make way for arable land.

Attenborough adds:

"We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable. If we do things that are unsustainable, the damage accumulates - ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses."

A number of social media users were clearly left emotional by the heartrending footage, and posted their reactions online.

For instance, one Twitter user wrote: "Every time I see that clip of the orangutan clinging onto the last tree in a rainforest that’s just been destroyed my heart hurts."

Another commenter wrote, "If you haven’t watched David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet on Netflix please do. Watching it at 4am tearing up in my room. Already know some changes I’m going to make from now on."

Meanwhile, someone else stated:

"A Life On Our Planet" is truly inspirational, eye opening and worrying all at the same time. I urge you all to watch it and make that small change, because if you don't, the effect is huge. We have created the issue, so we should fix it."

Attenborough has made quite a splash on social media lately, with the 94-year-old joining Instagram and gaining an incredible 200,000 followers just one hour after making his first post.

Netflix viewers have been reduced to tears by a heartbreaking scene involving orangutans in the latest David Attenborough documentary.

The scene in question comes from A Life On Our Planet, David Attenborough's new feature-length documentary on Netflix, which, in one segment, explores the deforestation wrought by the palm oil industry.

Take a look at the heartbreaking scene in the video below:

In the scene above, the renowned broadcaster and documentary filmmaker states:

"Many of the millions of species in the forests exist in small numbers. Everyone has a critical role to play. Orangutan mothers have to spend 10 years with their young, teaching them which fruits are worth eating.

"Without this training, they would not complete their role in dispersing seeds. The future generations of many tree species would be at risk."

In a voiceover, Attenborough continues:

"Tree diversity is the key to a rainforest. In a single small patch of tropical rainforest there could be 700 different species of tree - as many as there are in the whole of north America."

"And yet this is what we've been turning this dizzying diversity into. A monoculture of oil palm, a habitat that is dead in comparison."

"There is a double incentive to cut down forests: people benefit from the timber, and then benefit again from farming the land that's left behind. Which is why we've cut down three trillion trees across the world - half of the world's rainforests have already been cleared."

The footage in the documentary then showed a number of orangutans from a half-filled forest in Borneo, clinging on to the last vestiges of their treetop home, while machinery begins to carve up what few trees are left to make way for arable land.

Attenborough adds:

"We can't cut down rainforests forever, and anything that we can't do forever is by definition unsustainable. If we do things that are unsustainable, the damage accumulates - ultimately to a point where the whole system collapses."

A number of social media users were clearly left emotional by the heartrending footage, and posted their reactions online.

For instance, one Twitter user wrote: "Every time I see that clip of the orangutan clinging onto the last tree in a rainforest that’s just been destroyed my heart hurts."

Another commenter wrote, "If you haven’t watched David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet on Netflix please do. Watching it at 4am tearing up in my room. Already know some changes I’m going to make from now on."

Meanwhile, someone else stated:

"A Life On Our Planet" is truly inspirational, eye opening and worrying all at the same time. I urge you all to watch it and make that small change, because if you don't, the effect is huge. We have created the issue, so we should fix it."

Attenborough has made quite a splash on social media lately, with the 94-year-old joining Instagram and gaining an incredible 200,000 followers just one hour after making his first post.