Push to get TV adventurer to NZ

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SURVIVOR: Wilderness survival expert Bear Grylls. More than 7000 people have joined an online campaign to have Fiordland as the setting for his international survival show Man vs Wild.

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More than 7000 people have joined an online campaign to have Fiordland's rugged terrain as the setting for international survival show Man vs Wild.

The Facebook group, called 10,000 People for Man vs Wild Fiordland 2010, was started last October.

Members hope Bear Grylls, a wilderness survival expert, will film the next season of his Discovery Channel television production in New Zealand.

The hit show sees Grylls dropped into remote locations.

He has eaten snakes in the Australian Outback, made his own rafts and snowshoes, and drunk water from a camel carcass.

Matt Robinson, a keen Christchurch tramper and administrator for the group, said Grylls' attitude appealed to New Zealanders' sense of adventure.

"I think he's a bit like Barry Crump," Robinson said. "Kiwis loved him; he had that rugged, `she'll be right' attitude."

Robinson said Fiordland was "probably the most rugged" part of New Zealand and would provide Grylls with many challenges.

He was "overwhelmed" by the support the group had received.

"It's all good fun," he said.

"There are some hard-case people suggesting other locations, like South Auckland, Castle St in Dunedin, Gore and Waimate."

Destination Fiordland marketing co-ordinator Toni Ellis said that while such a show would not depict a typical tourist experience, it would "get the Fiordland name out there".

She said Grylls would find plenty of "bush tucker" to survive on, provided he stayed away from protected native flora and fauna in the national park.

"Birdlife is protected, so he won't be munching into a native pigeon, but he'd definitely find some things to eat," Ellis said.

"There are a few plants he can munch on, and there are plenty of berries around. Insects like huhu grubs, roots of bracken, deer or, if he's near the sea, he can gather paua or fish."

The director of global communications for the Discovery Channel in the United States, Liz Healy, said no trip to New Zealand was planned for the upcoming season, but Grylls was interested in the country.

"We are considering your part of the world for upcoming seasons," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News