Man who tried to get eaten alive by a snake and immediately regretted it explains why he did it
A bloke who tried to get eaten alive by one of the world's most powerful snakes revealed the reasoning behind why he offered himself up for dinner.
The world reckoned Paul Rosolie had something of a death wish when he first announced his plans to get gobbled up by a fearsome green anaconda, but he insists there was a method to his madness.
The conservationist fell in love with the Amazon rainforest and it's incredible wildlife straight after his first visit to the extraordinary jungle at the age of 18 and has since dedicated his life to trying to save the place.
But while hopping between countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, India and Peru, he saw first-hand how the uber-important rainforest was depleting while under threat from the likes of poachers, deforestation and illegal logging.
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Somehow, that ended up with Rosolie voluntarily sticking his head inside the mouth of a green anaconda while it alarmingly coiled around him. Take a look at this:
During an appearance on the Today show shortly after his daring mission in 2014, the environmentalist explained how his pursuit to save the Amazon escalated so quickly.
Rosolie said: "It actually started with me watching the rainforest get burned and getting really frustrated that people weren't as excited about it as I was. I wanted to do something that was going to grab people's attention
"People have tried everything else. I work down there year after year, and you see this habitat being destroyed."
As well as his deep rooted connection to the rainforest, Rosolie also has quite a unique relationship with the humungous green anacondas which call it home.
The Amazon admirer has spent years studying the semi-aquatic species - who's strength he compared to a 'team of horses' - and explained he 'knows a lot about them', as well as knowing all to well 'how scared people are of giant snakes'.
So as well as hopefully giving the serpents an image overhaul, he thought that getting eaten alive by one would stir up support for his quest to keep the Amazon thriving while also raising money for the cause.
Alongside his team, Rosolie headed into the rainforest and spent weeks finding the perfect candidate for the stunt, which he said was 'the hardest part' of the whole thing.
As featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel series Eaten Alive, they ended up tracking down a 20ft long, 18 stone green anaconda in the Peruvian Amazon, which the nature lover admitted was 'not easy to do'.
A team of engineers used 3D technology to craft the author a custom-made carbon-fibre suit to wear for the experiment, which was equipped with a radio mic and built-in cameras so he could communicate with his colleagues.
Discussing his rig out, Rosolie said: "We had to design a suit that could withstand the crush. Anacondas just latch on with their bite, then they crush, and that's how they kill their prey before they they swallow it.
"So I had to be able to survive the crush part. Then we made sure that I'd be able to breathe in case I actually did make it inside the anaconda.Then we put pigs blood on the outside to make me as appealing as possible, to make me smell like a prey item to this snake."
He revealed that he found the getting-eaten-alive-part of the process 'difficult' and 'stressful', which most people would assume is probably to be expected.
Rosolie continued: "My heart was going. The last thing I remember is seeing the snake's mouth open straight at my face. "Everything went black and then I just felt it was like being caught in a wave, it was just wrapped up and just you feel that crush. For over an hour I was being constricted.
"I couldn't see, I couldn't hear much and I just had a like I was I was radioing back to people telling them that I was alive."
Rosolie said there were both medics and veterinarians on site to ensure that both him and the snake were okay and that 'nothing got out of control' - while his wife was also there 'keeping everyone else calm' as her hubby's head disappeared inside the anaconda's mouth.
Topics: Animals, Environment, World News, Weird
Olivia Burke