"Eaten Alive" - For sure many tuned in to watch Discovery's latest eccentric wildlife experiment, only to end up disappointed for not living up to its challenge name.
The Eaten Alive By Anaconda experiment has a simple premise: a man is to be swallowed by a giant Amazonian anaconda alive to see and experience what it's like to be inside the beastly reptile.
Prior to its air date, the "Eaten Alive" special drew a lot of attention and criticism after releasing its official teaser and after Paul Rosolie - the man who is to be devoured alive by the snake - shared some images of the massive animal as well as of himself wearing what appeared to be a body suit, Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Right away, many were excited to see the show while anima rights groups started to express their fury over Discovery's show.
Sunday night came, and millions of people who wanted to see the man getting eaten alive by an anaconda, tuned in to get the a clear picture of the rather life-threatening experiment.
But to everyone's disappointment, viewers only saw the six-meter long anaconda trying to devour the man from the head into his arms before Rosolie signalled to bow out from the atrocious prospect of being eaten alive by the reptile.
Rosalie, who even doused himself in pig's blood to lure the anaconda into thinking that he is its typical prey, shrieked for his team and he was quickly yanked away.
"I started to feel the blood drain out of my hand and I felt the bone flex, and when I got to the point where I felt like [my arm] was going to snap I had to tap out," Rosolie said after the failed stunt.
Now because people who tuned in didn't get the picture of what they were after for: a man being eaten alive by a snake, many of them took to social media to air out their disappointment over Discovery's taped special, according to News.com.
"I knew it'd be too good to be true. #EatenAlive # Lies," a Vanessa Ramos tweeted.
"You just wasted two hours of your life watching #EatenAlive and the guy didn't even get eaten... You okay?" a Lauren Lavoie wrote on Twitter.
"WAIT THE SNAKE DIDN'T EVEN EAT THE GUY? I've been #EatenAlive by exactly as many anacondas as the host of this ridiculous show?" a David Shiffman commented.
The advertising for the episode was actually very effective since many were lured to watch it in hopes of seeing Rosolie getting devoured by the monstrous snake.
Last month, when asked to speak about his experience, Rosolie simply responded, "I am actually not allowed to say anything. I can tell you that the thing beat the shit out of me and constricted me. As for as actual consumption went, I'm not allowed to say."
In a statement following the special episode, Discovery said, "Paul created this challenge to get maximum attention for one of the most beautiful and threatened parts of the world, the Amazon Rainforest and its wildlife. He went to great lengths to send this message and it was his absolute intention to be eaten alive. Ultimately, after the snake constricted Paul for over an hour and went for his head, the experiment had to be called when it became clear that Paul would be very seriously injured if he continued on. The safety of Paul, as well as the anaconda, was always our number one priority."
Meanwhile, even before the episode aired, a Change.org petition and animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals urged the network to pull the plug of the show, TVGuide has learned.
After its air date, PETA continued to slam both the network and Rosolie for the failed stunt.
"Study after study has shown that entertainment features such as this one that show humans interfering with and handling wild animals are detrimental to species conservation. Rosolie knows this. Discovery knows this. Yet they chose to contrive and air this shameful stunt for ratings anyway," PETA said in a statement.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
