Eaten Alive: Paul Rosolie describes 'absolutely terrifying moment' he was swallowed by anaconda

Details of how he escaped from the giant snake remain vague

Naturalist Paul Rosolie has described the moment he was swallowed by an 18ft anaconda as part of Eaten Alive, a documentary for the Discovery Channel.

Rosolie donned a special suit to protect him before covering himself in pig’s blood and imitating the snake’s prey, so that it would eat him.

At first the female snake did not want to go near him, so he acted like a predator and the anaconda defended herself.

“She nailed me right in the face and the last thing I saw was her mouth wide open before everything went black,” Rosolie said.

“And then she wrapped me and I felt the suit cracking and my arms ripping out of their sockets. It was absolutely terrifying,” he told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview.

The plan was for Rosolie to be swallowed to his waist before he was pulled back out again but he remained vague on how he escaped from the anaconda.

There have been concerns from animal rights campaigners about the snake’s welfare but Rosolie said that the snake is “alive and well”.

He said that he came out of the affair worse off and added, “She beat the s**t out of me.”

The daring feat has not been without its critics, with some calling him the “Hitler of animals” and others telling him they hoped he got infected with the Ebola virus.

However, the film-maker and conservationist said that he did the stunt to raise awareness about the plight of the rapidly declining wildlife in the region.

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Rosolie felt he could only get the attention needed by doing something extraordinary.

“I wanted to do something that would sort of shock people and force a dialogue about what’s going on here — and it’s working.”

Rosolie has been working in the Amazon rainforest for a decade and has written Mother of God, which explores the Amazon.

‘Eaten Alive’ airs in the US on Discovery tonight