Alex Reid To Fight Endangered Mammals
CHANNEL Four is facing fresh controversy over plans for a gameshow where celebrity cage-fighter Alex Reid takes on some of the planet's most endangered species.
There are less than 2000 Cuvier's gazelles left and none of them are as pumped as Alex
Animals Ain't All That, due to start filming in April, will be set within a variety of wildlife 'fight-zones' from the Arctic Circle to the fringes of the Kalahari Desert.
The Friday night show will see Reid lure an indigenous species from the area into a specially designed ring using a trail of meat or leaves that have been laced with powerful sedatives.
He will then give a short presentation about how rare or endangered the species is and what can be done to save it, before putting the drugged animal in a headlock and slamming it into the canvas, jujitsu-style.
Executive producer Tom Logan said: "People are growing tired of Attenborough style wildlife shows like The Blue Planet, where magnificent creatures don't get the shit kicked out of them by a cage fighter.
"There's no reason why we can't educate the viewer about the plight of the Arctic narwhal, before giving one a whopping great suplex and tombstoning it off the top ropes."
But animal rights campaigners are disturbed at the latest animal abuse TV format following last year's controversial BBC1 programme Walking With Snakes.
The show featured sinister antiques expert David Dickinson stretching rare snakes out and freezing them in liquid nitrogen to find out which one made the best walking stick.
