Viewers were bitterly upset that a human being wasn’t actually eaten alive by a giant snake for their entertainment.
On Sunday evening, the Discovery Channel aired its heavily trailed Eaten Alive show, which involved American naturalist Paul Rosolie being eaten alive by a giant anaconda.
Rosolie though defended the show, saying it was designed to highlight the destruction of the rainforest.
The suit, which was covered in pig blood, was also designed to prevent the anaconda crushing him to death.
The two-hour special, shown on American TV last night, showed the Amazon conservationist and his team searching for the giant snake for 90 minutes, followed by half an hour of them enticing the reptile to consume him.
Towards the end of the show the anaconda was shown biting Rosolie’s helmet and wrapping itself around him.
The snake’s crushing power proved to be too much for Rosolie and his protective suit and the stunt had to be called off before it tried to swallow his head.
“I went limp and let it constrict. All the while I was just thinking: ‘Eat, eat, eat!’ She wrapped around me and I felt my suit cracking and my arms ripping out of their sockets.”