PUBLIC pressure has forced the US’s American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York to scrap a “person of the year” gala that would have honoured far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Hundreds of scientists, students and staff from the museum protested at the weekend and threatened to boycott and disrupt the event if it went ahead.

It is believed that a number of ANMH scientists threatened to resign as letters circulated condemning the decision to host Mr Bolsonaro.

Since assuming office, Mr Bolsonaro has set out policies that experts say will lead to the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and violate indigenous rights.

He also caused anger by appointing Ernesto Araujo, who claims climate change science is a Marxist plot, as the country’s foreign minister.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio condemned the decision to host Mr Bolsonaro,  saying the president’s “overt racism and homophobia” and his hostility to the environment mean it would be wrong for the museum to honour him.

In a statement museum bosses said they had jointly agreed with the  Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce that the event should be held elsewhere.