Man survives 31 days in the Amazon by eating worms

A man has recounted his extraordinary tale of survival, including drinking rainwater collected in his shoes and escaping wild animals.

It’s an extraordinary story of survival.

A Bolivian man has survived 31 days in the Amazon jungle after getting lost.

Jhonattan Acosta, 30, was separated from his four friends while out hunting in northern Bolivia.

How did he survive? Well, with a level of ingenuity, he says.

He told United TVhe drank rainwater collected in his shoes and ate worms and insects while hiding from jaguars and peccaries, a type of pig-like mammal.

Mr Acosta was finally found by a search party made up of locals and friends a month after he went missing.

Jhonattan Acosta, his face puffed up after his ordeal, was welcomed by his sister. Picture: Reuters

“I can’t believe people kept up the search for so long,” he said in tears.

“I ate worms, I ate insects, you wouldn’t believe all I had to do to survive all this time.”
He also ate wild fruits similar to papayas, known locally as gargateas.

“I thank God profusely, because he has given me a new life,” he said.

His family said that they would still have to piece together all the details of how Mr Acosta got lost and how he managed to stay alive but that they would ask him gradually as he was still psychologically bruised after the experience.

The physical changes have also been significant. Mr Acosta lost 17kg, dislocated his ankle, was dehydrated when he was found but according to those who found him, was still able to walk with a limp.

“My brother told us that when he dislocated his ankle on the fourth day, he started fearing for his life,” Horacio Acosta told Bolivia’s Página Siete newspaper.
“He only had one cartridge in his shotgun and couldn’t walk, and he thought no one would be looking for him anymore.”

Encounters with wild animals

But it was his experiences with wild animals in the jungle, including a jaguar, that were perhaps the most dramatic.

His younger brother says that he used his last cartridge to scare off a squadron of peccaries.

After 31 days, he spotted a search party some 300m away and limped towards them through thorny bushes, shouting to draw attention to him.

Horacio Acosta says that his brother was found by four local people.
“A man came running to tell us they’d found my brother,” he said. “It’s a miracle.”

Mr Acosta has decided to give up hunting for good after his ordeal.

“He is going to play music to praise God,” his brother said. “He promised God that, and I think he will keep his promise.”