Les Stroud, host of the Survivorman, says his final adventure will be in Papua New Guinea. (Laura Bombier/Canadian Press)Les Stroud, host of the Survivorman, says his final adventure will be in Papua New Guinea. (Laura Bombier/Canadian Press)

Survivorman is calling it quits.

Les Stroud, the Canadian host of TV series Survivorman, says he's no longer keen to spend a week alone in difficult terrain without food, water or equipment.

"It takes a lot out of me, as I really do what I do for real, with no camera crew, no nights in hotels like others do, and it takes a toll on my body," said Stroud, 47.

Stroud is filming an adventure in Papua New Guinea that will be the final season for Survivorman.

But he expects to continue his association with the Science Channel, perhaps with a series on famous explorers.

"You can only do seven days surviving without food a certain number of times a year. I'm pleased with what I have done, I've been copied around the world, but 25 times I've not eaten anything for a week while sleeping on rocks. I need to move on," he said.

Stroud was an instructor for 20 years in wilderness survival skills, white water paddling, sea kayaking, hiking and dog sledding.

In 2000, he took a few small cameras into the wilderness of northern Ontario to spend a week alone without water, food, or equipment. His rescue crew, which stayed five to 50 km away, was instructed to come after him only if he didn't make his rendezvous a week later.

This became a template for Survivorman, which has seen him brave the wilderness in Africa, South and North America and Asia.

"I have not had to be rescued yet, but there was one situation in Labrador where we had bad weather and we all had to be shipped out to safety," said Stroud.

"I did get chased out of the jungle by a jaguar once, and I had one situation in the Kalahari Desert where it came close to calling in my rescue crew, as I got close to having heat stroke. It was 61 degrees Celsius," he said.

"But probably my most scared was being in lion territory in Africa. That was a scary place to be."

Stroud, who has a background as a producer of music videos, has released a book called Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere — Alive!

With files from Reuters