A man has told of his incredible fight to stay alive in a rainforest full of wild animals for a month.
Jhonattan Acosta, 30, became separated from his friends while hunting in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia on January 25.
He managed to escape jaguars and lived off insects and drank rainwater from his shoe – losing 17kg during his ordeal.
Jhonattan’s tale is all the more heroic as he dislocated his ankle four days after becoming lost.
Thankfully, he was found on Saturday when a search party heard him shouting, ‘Please get me out of here’.
He told local media: ‘It’s incredible, I can’t believe people kept up the search for so long.
‘I ate worms, I ate insects. You wouldn’t believe all I had to do to survive all this time.
‘I thank God profusely, because he has given me a new life.’
Jhonattan has now decided to stop hunting, instead choosing to make music in gratitude to God.
His family said they are still unsure how Jhonattan got lost, but haven’t directly asked him questions as he mentally recovers.
Horacio Acosta told Bolivia’s Página Siete newspaper: ‘My brother told us when he dislocated his ankle on the fourth day, he started fearing for his life.
‘He only had one cartridge in his shotgun and couldn’t walk, and he thought no one would be looking for him anymore.’
Jhonattan used his last shotgun cartridge to scare off a group of peccaries, which is a pig-like animal.
After a gruelling 31 days in the wilderness, he spotted a search party and limped through thorny bushes to reach them.
Horacio said: ‘A man came running to tell us they’d found my brother. It’s a miracle.’
Police said they would question the four other members of the hunting party to find out how Jhonattan became separated.
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