US President Barack Obama will test his wilderness survival skills with an appearance on the television show Running Wild in an Alaska adventure that will air later this year, the network NBC said on Monday.

Obama will be the first US president to appear on the show, in which British outdoor adventurer Bear Grylls takes celebrities through grueling treks in remote forests and mountains.

NBC made the announcement on the same day Obama began a three-day visit to Alaska that is focused on climate change. The network said Obama and Grylls would meet to observe the effects of climate change on the area.

The show will be taped and will air on NBC later this year, the network said.

Actors including Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson are among those who have joined Grylls, a former soldier with the SAS who is also Chief Scout and has made no secret of his Christian faith, on one-on-one expeditions that test their mental and physical endurance skills.