Explorer Who Tried to Get Eaten Alive by a Giant Snake Immediately Regretted It
When it comes to raising awareness for environmental issues, some conservationists are willing to go to unimaginable extremes. But few have gone as far as Paul Rosolie, an explorer and wildlife advocate who deliberately attempted to be eaten alive by an anaconda — and instantly wished he hadn’t.
A Shocking Plan to Save the Rainforest
Rosolie, a longtime researcher of the Amazon Rainforest, has spent years witnessing firsthand the devastation of one of the world’s most vital ecosystems. Frustrated by the lack of public attention to the destruction, he came up with a drastic, headline-grabbing plan to get people to pay attention: he would offer himself as prey to one of the jungle’s most feared predators.
Yes, you read that correctly. Rosolie planned to be consumed by a live anaconda — all in the name of conservation awareness.
“I wanted to do something that was going to grab people’s attention,” Rosolie told *Today*. “People have tried everything else. I work down there year after year, and you see this habitat being destroyed.”
How Was This Even Possible?
Naturally, the idea wasn’t for Rosolie to die during the stunt. Instead, he had a custom-built suit designed to protect him during the attack. The suit, resembling something out of a sci-fi film, featured:
Reinforced protection to withstand the snake’s crushing coils
A built-in oxygen supply
Tiny cameras embedded throughout to capture the ordeal from the inside
The goal was to survive the process of being constricted and partially swallowed, and then be extracted before digestion began.
The Snake Attack Begins
The entire experiment was documented in the Discovery Channel special Eaten Alive, which saw Rosolie travel deep into the Amazon to locate a giant anaconda. Once found, he provoked the snake into striking.
And strike it did.
“I’m getting coils over me,” Rosolie reported through his mic. “She’s got my arms pinned. She knows there’s nothing I can do.”
With each passing second, the massive reptile wrapped itself tighter around Rosolie’s body. Though the suit held up physically, the psychological and physiological stress became overwhelming. His heart rate spiked, and his breathing grew labored.
“I’m calling it!” he eventually shouted. “I need help.”
At that point, the team rushed in to rescue him, pulling him free before the snake could fully ingest him.
The Aftermath: Terror and Awareness
Though Rosolie was ultimately unharmed thanks to the specialized gear, the experience left him visibly shaken. But in his eyes, the fear and discomfort were worth it if it meant raising global awareness about the rainforest’s ongoing destruction.
“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,” he explained.
The stunt drew massive media attention and polarized public opinion — some praised the creativity, others called it a publicity stunt. But it undeniably sparked a conversation, which was exactly Rosolie’s intention.
Watch the full clip from Eaten Alive [here].
