Bear Grylls regrets killing ‘way too many animals’ in his early TV survival shows and says he is no longer a climate change sceptic

• TV adventurer Bear Grylls has admitted he killed too many animals on TV
• He said he has also changed his mind about climate change having witnessed it
• He said the menu change is due to the number of celebrity vegetarians on TV  

Reality TV survival expert Bear Grylls has admitted he killed ‘way too many’ animals during his earliest programmes. 

The former SAS reservist is known for his eclectic eating tastes, which have included bugs, reptiles, rabbits and frogs. 

In one show, The Island, the 47-year-old adventurer is seen killing snakes and an iguana. 

Reality TV survival expert Bear Grylls has admitted he killed ‘way too many’ animals during his earliest programmes

Grylls, pictured with former US president Barack Obama, right, will kill fewer animals on future TV shows

Now, in an interview on BBC Radio 4, Grylls, 47, admits he should not kill animals and instead should only eat those who are already dead. 

He said: ‘I think in terms of survival and food, definitely in the early days we were killing way too many snakes and stuff like that in the name of survival. I’ve moved so far away from that nowadays. It’s always about finding carcasses, bugs and grubs. If you look at great survivors historically they were always the foragers.

‘You go after the big game and you take too much risk and you burn too much energy.’ 

He said the growth in popularity of non-meat based diets has also altered his thinking. 

He said: ‘I have taken many, many stars who are vegan and vegetarian into the wild. It has been a wonderful adventure and I am always super respectful of that.’

Grylls said before beginning his career he was a ‘bit of a climate sceptic’ but has changed his mind.  

Recently, Grylls ecalled how he got Prince George to eat an ant and said it was a ‘privilege’ to give the future king the insect.

Speaking to Good Morning Britain, the adventurer and TV star revealed the eight-year-old royal’s eyes lit up after trying the bug and called him a ‘little hero’ for giving it a go.

The morning show’s co-host, Susanna Reid, asked: ‘You encouraged President Obama to eat a half-eaten salmon, you also encouraged our future king to eat some ants, didn’t you?’

He explained: ‘Well I didn’t really mean to, I mean we were doing something for Prince William’s Kings Cup event, we were down there and the royal family were there.

‘And it was actually the Duchess of Cambridge’s mother said ‘Would you come and just say hi to Prince George, he’s a big fan of your Netflix adventure interactive show’.

Recently, Grylls ecalled how he got Prince George to eat an ant and said it was a ‘privilege’ to give the future king the insect

‘And so we were chatting, and he was down here, and just as we were chatting a stream of ants went across his feet, and him and me looked at them, he looked at me with those amazed wide eyes, and I said ‘Come on we’ve got to eat one’.

‘And he said ‘Oh really?’ and we ate, and it was a privilege to give the future King his first ant, and his eyes lit up as they do with anyone when they’re out in the wild and they face a few fears and they overcome them, so good for him. What a little hero.’

Reid asked ‘what do ants taste like?’ to which he replied: ‘A little zingy, but that’s a formic acid in the stomach and it’s all vitamin C, it’s OK.’

Co-host Martin Lewis added: ‘You see, look at royalty, he’s already that age and he’s eaten an ant, I’ve gotten to nearly 50 and I’ve never eaten one.’

The adventurer also discussed when he got former US president Barack Obama to eat an unusual food when he joined him on his programme Running Wild With Bear Grylls in 2015.

He revealed that he had come across salmon carcasses along the river which had been partially eaten by bears and wanted to share them with Mr Obama for their meal but the US Secret Service tried to intervene.

He said: ‘Secret service went ‘No, firstly of all he never eats on camera or drinks, if we do that we’ll have to have a special salmon ready’.’

However, he recalled that the former president did not ask for the special salmon and instead helped cook the one scavenged by Grylls and ate it with the adventurer, while the film crew dined on the ‘fancy salmon’ that night.

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