Paul Rosolie made headlines worldwide when he revealed he had been swallowed by a giant Amazonian anaconda.

He released images of the massive snake, and himself kitted out in a space-age body suit last week ahead of the Eaten Alive documentary screening on the Discovery channel.

People were enthralled, and some animal rights groups were furious.

Unfortunately for the hundreds of thousands of viewers who tuned in for the grisly spectacle of watching a human-shaped lump travel down a six-metre long snake, the stunt was rapidly abandoned.

After dousing himself in pigs' blood and crawling around in front of the anaconda like its usual prey of pig or deer, the snake took the bait.

But it focused on Mr Rosolie's head and began to crush his arm, causing him to shriek for his team who rapidly shut down the stunt.

The perplexed anaconda only really got to taste his head before he was yanked away.

Angry comments poured in on social media with viewers now as mad at Mr Rosolie and the Discovery Channel as animal rights groups were about the stunt.

In a statement, the Discovery Channel justified the oversell because of Mr Rosolie's efforts and noble intentions.

"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," said a spokesman for the Discovery Channel, adding the safety of Mr Rosolie and the snake were their number one priorities.

"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 conservationist and wildlife documentary channel seemed surprised an apex predator worked out exactly how to destroy his willing prey.

But animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals says the fact they failed to come good on their promotional promises did not make what they see as abuse of the snake any more appropriate.

"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," said a PETA statement.

The spokeswoman highlighted the snake had been forcibly removed from its watery home, and tricked into using its limited energy reserves in an attempt to eat what it believed was a pig, before it turned out to be a human with ample back up.

"Paul Rosolie and his crew put this snake through undeniable stress and robbed her of essential bodily resources. She was forced to constrict and then not allowed to eat."