Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls has been criticised by animal rights charity PETA after footage of celebrities killing a caiman crocodile was aired.
The Channel 4 survivalist series continued last night (September 6) and saw Olympian Iwan Thomas and former Coronation Street actor Ryan Thomas wrestle with a crocodile before killing it with a knife.
The brutal scenes attracted 11 Ofcom complaints and also led the director of PETA UK to condemn the "miserable celebrities and producers" for allowing the events to occur.
"Caimans are shy animals, and this one was a baby," Elisa Allen told The Sun.
"They're not a threat to humans, so taking a life for the shock value is shameful and cowardly and shows that the only real predators on this programme are the miserable celebrities and producers."
Following the upsetting scenes, viewers also took to Twitter to berate the series for carrying out such graphic and distressing cruelty against animals in the name of entertainment.
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Channel 4 has now responded to the complaints, insisting that it was an adult caiman that was killed, despite PETA's claim.
"An important part of the series is to find out if the celebrities are capable of surviving alone and able to find sources of food, including hunting and killing for meat; a vital part of their survival as it is a source of valuable calories and protein," said a spokesperson (via Daily Post).
"The celebrities were trained in the humane capture and dispatch of live animals as part of their survival training and the adult caiman was killed humanely."
Celebrity Island continues next Wednesday (September 13) on Channel 4.
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