A new Chinese television reality show where entertainers hug whale sharks, kiss lions, feed pandas and dress up baby chimpanzees has come under fire from wildlife conservationists who want it taken off the air, saying such activities are cruel and are dangerous for both the humans and animals.

The show, called “Wonderful Friends,” is the latest programming success from Hunan TV. The broadcaster, based in Changsha, was behind the hugely popular talent show “Super Girl,” which drew more than 400 million viewers for its season finale in 2005 when viewers got to vote for their favorite contestant.

The winning “Super Girl” herself, Li Yuchun, is now a major pop singer and among the six stars on “Wonderful Friends.” The new show was an immediate hit. An estimated 20 million people watched the first episode when it aired on Jan. 24. Seven episodes in, it has attracted more than 196,000 followers on Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform.

In each episode, Ms. Li and her fellow participants are given zookeeping tasks that allow them to interact with wild animals at Chimelong Safari Park in the southern city of Guangzhou, whose website boasts of 20,000 rare animals and “the world’s most enchanting white tiger performance for guests.” The show’s mission, Chimelong says on its website, is to bring humans and animals closer together.

Animal welfare advocates say that is exactly what should be avoided.

“There are so many reasons why ‘Wonderful Friends’ shouldn’t be on the air,” Dave Neale of Animals Asia, an advocacy group based in Hong Kong, said in a statement. “It is hugely misleading to the public about the needs and welfare of captive animals and does so while putting their welfare and health at risk.”

Animals Asia is leading a campaign to have the show canceled, and it says “thousands of social media users” in China are backing its call. A group of activists based in Beijing called Freedom for Animal Actors has presented a petition to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, which regulates China’s broadcasters.

“Many people may think getting cuddly is an expression of love. What they don’t realize is wild animals need space,” said Xie Yan, a zoologist and China director of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which is based in New York. “Putting clothes on chimpanzees is not as adorable as you may think from the animals’ point of view.”

The hazards run both ways when humans and animals get too close, Ms. Xie added.

One of the celebrity participants in the show, Ni Ni, an actress who appeared in Zhang Yimou’s “The Flowers of War,” was bitten by a chimpanzee on the first day of taping and had to be rushed to the hospital for rabies shots, according to a report in Xin Kuai Bao, a Guangzhou newspaper.

Telephone calls seeking comment went unanswered on Wednesday and Thursday at Hunan TV’s headquarters. The broadcaster told The Beijing News last week that the celebrities had undergone training before taping started, without specifying what kind. Professional zookeepers can be seen supervising them during the show.

Hunan TV and the animal protection group WildAid had discussed running a joint fund-raising campaign for animal welfare during the show, according to the San Francisco-based group’s China program director, May Mei. She said the plan was dropped because WildAid officials could not see a preview or pilot episode of the show.

“I guess their idea was to get their viewers to love the animals, which could be a promising start for conservation efforts,” Ms. Mei said. “But we do not agree with their entertainment-oriented approach.”

Using celebrities to focus public attention on wildlife is a common practice in conservation campaigns. Last year, WildAid released the documentary “The End of the Wild,” which follows the Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming to Africa, where he highlighted the problem of elephant and rhinoceros poaching.

But the difference with “Wonderful Friends,” Ms. Mei said, is that in an awareness campaign like Mr. Yao’s, human observers keep their distance. “Yao was there to see the hard truth of poaching, and that is different from a show created to drive ratings,” she said.

Critics also argue that the show violates Chinese wildlife protection laws.

In 2010, China’s State Forestry Administration banned entertainment activities at zoos that allow nonprofessionals to have close contact with wild animals. But the ban carried no penalties and has been loosely enforced. It is widely ignored by Chinese zoos and wildlife parks, where visitors are often seen petting animals and posing for photographs with them.

In December, four giant pandas at a breeding facility in the northwestern province of Shaanxi contracted distemper, and all have since died. Transmission from humans or their pets is suspected because the facility was open to tourists.

In response to the pandas’ deaths, the Forestry Administration issued another directive in January reiterating its rules, but once again without measures for enforcement.

Chimelong did not respond to emailed requests for comment on Thursday. In an interview last week with Xin Kuai Bao, it said it receives more than 24 million visitors a year to its safari park in Guangzhou and its aquatic theme park in Zhuhai. “Wonderful Friends” viewers are offered chances to win free tickets to Chimelong parks.