The leading animal charity Peta has issued a warning to BBC star Bruce Parry, who suffocated and killed a goat on his rebooted TV show, Tribe.
In the second episode of the series Tribe with Bruce Parry, the adventurer meets the Macubal, a community living in Angola’s harsh Namib Desert, where he is gifted a goat by one of the group’s leaders as a welcome.
He was told by the members of the tribe that he must kill the animal, which initially left the presenter horrified.
Parry eventually went through with the ritual out of fear of offending the hosts, and told cameras about how the animals are essential to the tribute as symbols of currency, gifts and sustenance.
He said: “This is the most gruesome thing I have ever done,” adding, "I wasn’t given any time to consider it or anything. It’s like they held it and said you have to hold this now... so I did.”
Peta UK’s President of Programmes Elisa Allen said in a statement that Parry would have been facing “criminal charges if his abominably cruel goat suffocation had occurred on British soil”.
Allen added: “For selfish ratings ‘shock value’, a gentle being who otherwise loved to play and jump spent her final moments in abject terror – gasping for air, struggling to stay alive, and bleating for mercy that Parry failed to grant.
“Parry’s excuse of cultural immersion is a failed attempt at washing his hands of an act of wanton cruelty to animals, and the BBC must answer for enabling such cruelty.”
Allen suggested that, if Parry wants to make amends, he should make a “sizeable donation” to a goat sanctuary.
A spokesperson for the BBC told The Sun: “The goat sequence in episode two accurately portrays an essential part of Mucubal life in Angola, and it is traditional for Mucubal communities to ask visitors to slaughter a goat.”
“As the programme explains, the Mucubal believe that stabbing an animal is cruel and suffocation is a more respectful death.
“The goat was eaten after its slaughter and to avoid including it in the programme would create an inauthentic portrayal of Mucubal life.”
In the episode, Parry stays with the 30-strong family and witnesses the rituals his hosts continue to maintain.
Parry first starred in the BBC Two documentary series from 2004 to 2007, which saw him live with various tribal groups to better understand their culture.
The new edition of the show, rebranded as Tribe with Bruce Parry, saw the explorer projectile vomit after doing psychedelics with the Waimaha people in the Colombian Amazon rainforest.
Speaking about the comeback, Parry said: “It’s been over twenty years since Tribe first aired.
“Living with people who experience the world in such profoundly different ways was eye-opening then, but today it feels vital,” he added. “I believe we have so much to learn from those who still live in deep connection with the world around them,” the explorer continued.
“It feels a huge privilege that the BBC has allowed me to explore these places and themes once again.”
The Independent has contacted the BBC and Parry’s representatives for comment.
