Man who allowed himself to be swallowed alive by an anaconda explains why he did it

The American naturalist who filmed himself getting eaten by an anaconda for a highly-anticipated television event has spoken out about what inspired him to take part in the risky stunt.

'I didn’t want to stress [the snake] out too 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.

Amid a backlash from animal rights activists who believe the anaconda was tortured by being forced to eat Rosolie, a man much bigger than its usual prey, Rosolie has responded to say the snake was unharmed and that the experiment was designed to raise money to save the animal's habitat.

'I wanted to do something that would absolutely shock people,' Rosolie told the New York Post. 'Environmentalists, we love to preach to the choir. What I’m trying to do with this is bring in a bunch of people that wouldn’t necessarily know what’s going on in the Amazon.'

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

Rosolie says 'it didn't take long' for the anaconda to fall for the maneuver, but wouldn't elaborate on what actually happened once the snake tried to swallow him whole.

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

Culled from dailymail