It was not so much the colloquial descriptions of animals involved in sexual activity (I quote ''waiting to get laid'') that offended me. My disgust lay primarily with the section of the programme devoted to violence. Various animals (prairie dogs, foxes, Alsatians etc) were set up to fight, often in confined spaces.

Dog-fighting is quite understandably illegal in the United Kingdom and I was appalled to see that such savage ''entertainment'' could be allowed prime-time viewing space in Hong Kong.

Most shocking of all was a sequence in which a lioness and a tiger were placed in a cage and allowed (or should I say encouraged?) to tear each other to shreds. Both animals were bleeding profusely and in obvious distress from the encounter. The narrator's justification of this was that ''it would help us to understand animals' behaviour in the wild''. Now I claim to be no wildlife expert, but even I know that lions and tigers do not even inhabit the same country, and thus fail to appreciate how such an upsetting display could be of valuable educational benefit to anyone.

I am surprised, since broadcasting censorship here in Hong Kong is so strict, that this programme was ever allowed to be shown in the first place.

S. CUNNINGHAM Causeway Bay