Discovery’s upcoming series Man Vs Bear has been slammed by animal rights group PETA over fears for the treatment of the animals.
The new show sees a number of strong men take on challenges while a family of three grizzly bears also take on the task.
The bears were rescued by Doug and Lynne Seus, with the tasks taking place on their sanctuary in Utah.
But forcing animals to perform each challenge, and training them to perform the tasks including pushing barrels, has left PETA speaking out against the show, calling it exploitative of the animals with the whole series a ‘sickening stunt’.
PETA’s Lewis Crary, assistant manager for PETA’s Animals in Film and Television sector, said: ‘It’s 2019 – not pioneer days – and it’s time that the Discovery Channel discovered that animals are not ours to use for entertainment.’
‘There are true, reputable sanctuaries in the US, and none of them would ever use bears for a sickening stunt like this series,’ TBI reported.
Adding that animals shouldn’t ‘provide cheap tricks for sad reality TV’, Crary said: ‘Shame on the Discovery Channel for normalising exploitation.’
They added that it may perpetuate that the wild animals are safe to be around, when in reality they could be potentially extremely dangerous.
Man Vs Bear will air at an unconfirmed date on Discovery.
If you've got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page - we'd love to hear from you.
Got a showbiz story?
MORE: Soldier was ‘skinned alive’ by mother bear defending her cubs