Discovery Channel to Air a Man ‘Eaten Alive’ by an Anaconda: Facts

Story:

Discovery Channel to air Man being Eaten Alive by an Anaconda on Dec. 7, 2014.

Other Versions

A Man Will Be Eaten Alive by a Snake on TV.

Picture about Discovery Channel to Air a Man ‘Eaten Alive’ by an Anaconda — Discovery Channel to Air a Man ‘Eaten Alive’ by an Anaconda

Analysis:

These messages shared heavily online in various versions, along with couple of videos, claim to show that Discovery Channel is going to air a Man being eaten alive by an Anaconda on 7 Dec. 2014. It is a fact with some missing information; and has become controversial.

The Promo

On 5 Nov. 2014, Discovery Channel uploaded a video to YouTube (shown in this article), which is a trailer of their special new TV show ‘Eaten Alive’ that starts on 7 Dec. 2014. Featured in the video is naturist, author and wildlife filmmaker Paul Rosolie going on a wild expedition show along with a team to find the largest species of Snake on earth, the Giant Green Anaconda within the Amazonian jungle.

Paul Rosolie is going to attempt something no one has ever dared — to be ‘eaten alive’. The team is going to get him inside the snake, but he’ll be well covered in a custom-built safety suit designed for his protection (as he showed in the promo). After the Anaconda starts to swallow him with his head first, the team is going to pull him out and would be filmed as if he is being eaten alive by the anaconda. The carbon fiber outfit is said to be built to withstand 90psi (pounds per square inch), the highest measured force of an anaconda constriction, which is equivalent to having a large school bus on one’s chest. And reportedly, the man will cover himself in pig’s blood in order to make himself appetizing to the snake.

Controversial

The video and the feat planned for the Discovery Channel’s TV show ‘Eaten Alive’ received much criticism and created quite a stir on social media. People are little upset that Discovery Channel is more about learning and discovering, but the show is exploiting animals for getting ratings in the name of ‘entertainment’. Experts say the anaconda would go through lot of distress in the process and animal rights’ campaigners are worried about the safety of the snake.

Animal rights group PETA (peta.org) blasted Paul Rosolie and the Discovery Channel show, and added that the poor animal can be exhausted and deprived of the energy that it needs. Whether it is a hoax or not, PETA asked the Discovery Channel to pull the show, but did not get any response from them. According to Dr. Jesus A. Rivas, a herpetologist and tropical ecologist who specializes in researching the green anaconda, because of his safety suit, Rosolie would be in no danger; it’s only the snake that would suffer. He added that if one wants to film an anaconda’s eating and digestive process from the inside, it can be done with little risk to the snake, like by attaching a miniature camera to a rabbit as anaconda’s feed. There is also a petition on Change.org calling on Discovery Channel to stop airing the ‘Eaten Alive’ show. It has close to 36,000 signatures as of this writing.

Discovery’s Take

Discovery Channel explains that Paul Rosolie has been studying the hunting and feeding behaviors of the anaconda to ultimately understand the inner workings of the majestic creatures. Paul says he would never hurt a living thing, the custom safety suit was built to ensure the snake’s safety as well, and that his goal is to draw public attention to the issue of rainforest habitat destruction.

In case you are still skeptical, Discovery has already shot the ‘Eaten Alive’ special show over the course of 60 days this past summer and will air it Sunday, Dec. 7 at 9pm ET/PT. It says both the man and snake are alive and well; however, Discovery is playing it coy about how much of Rosolie was actually consumed by the Giant Green Anaconda.