A wildlife expert, who allowed himself to be eaten alive and regurgitated by an anaconda, has defended his actions after facing hundreds of claims of animal cruelty.
The explorer, Paul Rosolie, wore a specially-made “snake-proof” suit and covered himself in pig’s blood for the stunt.
More than 40,000 signatures have been made on a Change.org petition demanding the show, which premieres on the Discovery Channel next weekend, is never aired.
Animal rights’ group PETA group have also branded Paul a “fool”. The petition reads: ‘This is animal abuse to the highest degree and absolutely disgusting, and could kill the snake – an adult green anaconda cannot fit the width of an adult man’s shoulders into it’s body.
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‘The show promotions even show the host holding an anaconda by the head as if he’s about to be attacked,” the petition continued. “That’s perpetuating stereotypes that condition people to fear these animals. Humans are not their natural prey!’
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the stuntman defended his experiment, and said: “I wanted to do something that would absolutely shock people"
“Environmentalists, we love to preach to the choir. What I’m trying to do with this is bring in a bunch of people that wouldn’t necessarily know what’s going on in the Amazon.
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“For the type of attention that this is getting and for the type of emergency that’s going on down there — desperate times, desperate measures.”
Eaten Alive will air on the Discovery Channel UK on 12 December
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