A new reality show branded "sick and degrading" by animal rights protesters has been dropped by ITV in the eleventh hour.

Man Versus Beast, based on a US show of the same name, was due to air in an early evening slot on ITV1 this Saturday. Now it appears the network has had a change of heart, pulling the show and replacing it with a special on the world's greatest magic tricks.

In the US version, events included 44 dwarves undertaking a tug-of-war against an elephant, and a bear competing in a hot dog eating contest.

An ITV spokeswoman denied that the move was in response to criticism and that it was just a "scheduling decision."

"We absolutely do not agree the show was unfair to animals," the spokeswoman told the Media Guardian. "It was a scheduling decision and nothing to do with criticism of the show from pressure groups. We will reschedule it at a later date."