Man allows himself to be swallowed alive by anaconda

London, Dec 2: In a shocking act, an American naturalist allowed himself to be swallowed alive by an anaconda in the Amazon forest.

American naturalist Paul Rosolie filmed himself getting eaten by an anaconda for a highly-anticipated television event to be aired this Sunday on Discovery Channel.

Rosolie is a naturalist, author, and award-winning wildlife filmmaker who has specialised in the western Amazon for nearly a decade.

This past summer, Rosolie donned a special suit to let a 25-foot snake, weighing over 400 pounds, eat him in a dangerous performance, the Daily Mail reported.

"I didn't want to stress the snake much. I wanted to make sure that the suit was smooth and wasn't going to hurt the snake," Rosolie said.

"I really wasn't scared. We tested this suit and worked on this with experts so we knew I was going to be safe," Rosolie said.

"I wanted to do something that would absolutely shock people."

Rosolie, a New Jersey native, spent 60 days hiking through a rain forest in Peru with a team of about a dozen people searching for the right anaconda to take part in the stunt.

In the process, the team also started the first scientific study of anacondas in the wild, taking down the weight, length and sex of each snake they came across.

It took 12 people fighting in water above their heads to catch the 25-foot 400-500 pound anaconda.

Herpetologists were on site to make sure the snake was in good health throughout its short captivity.

In order to attract the snake's attention, Rosolie doused himself in pig's blood and imitated movements of the anaconda's typical prey. The snakes usually hunt wild pigs, deer, capybaras and caiman.

"Experiencing that kind of power was worth everything, because it was just amazing," he said.

The event, to be aired on Sunday, will be promoting a fundraiser to raise money to save the snake's habitat.

IANS