An intrepid man was attacked by crocs and leeches in his quest to track down the world’s largest snake.
Dilane Salvaje left his home in Europe to explore the Amazon jungle in southern Colombia.
He is on the lookout for a green anaconda – the largest snake species in the world.
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The Spanish influencer insists the snake has to be over 32 feet (10 metres) in length to count.
Dilane is on day 35 of searching for a 10-metre-long green anaconda
And he has encountered numerous dangerous animals and near-death experiences along the way.
He shared a clip of a five-metre-long crocodile that tried to bite him.
Dilane also came across a 20ft (6m) long anaconda that bit him on the hand.
The intrepid influencer was heard screaming in pain when the large snake sank its fangs into him, leaving him with a bloodied hand.
But he waved it off as “just a little kiss”.
Dilane, who recently trekked through the jungles of Peru, was also filmed diving into lakes and ponds to catch small crocs and poisonous frogs.
And he had to endure bloodsucking leeches at night while trying to relax.
He also encountered numerous howler monkeys, sloths, capybaras, iguanas and other snakes, but has yet to track down a 10-metre anaconda.
Dilane has been posting updates on his Instagram page that have amassed millions of views.
He has over 1.7 million Instagram followers.
One follower joked: “How the hell is this guy still alive?”
Ricardo said: “This guy does everything he can to die.
Luis remarked: “Animals tell their offspring stories about this man.”
Last year, a team of 15 scientists discovered the largest snake species in the world, the Northern Green Anaconda.
They average 20ft 5ins in length.
Before the discovery, only one species of Green Anaconda – also called the Giant Anaconda – was recognised in the Amazon.
The Northern Green Anaconda was published in a study in the scientific journal Diversity on 16 February 2024.
The colossal snake is bigger than the previous biggest known species – the reticulated python.
The team included Dutch TV wildlife presenter Professor Freek Vonk who posted a video of him swimming next to the enormous anaconda.
He told Need To Know: “That one was 26 feet long and weighed 440lbs.
“Together with 14 other scientists from nine countries, we discovered the largest snake species in the world.”
He said the green anaconda is “actually two different species”.
Prof Vonk explained: “The green anacondas found in the north of their range in South America – including Venezuela, Suriname, and French Guiana – appear to belong to a completely different species.
“Although they look almost identical at first glance, the genetic difference between the two is 5.5% and that is huge.
“To put this in perspective, humans and chimpanzees are only genetically different from each other by about 2%.”
Prof Vonk added: “We have given the new species the Latin name Eunectes akayima, the Northern Green Anaconda.”
Professor Jesus Rivas, the lead author of the study, explained that they first realised there was more than one species of green anaconda over 17 years ago.
Along with his wife Dr Sarah Corey-Rivas, they started to analyse samples to look for genetic differences.
Professor Rivas said: “Sarah and I started working on this in 2007 when we first noticed there was a big genetic difference between the Venezuelan samples and some samples from Peru.
“I have been studying anacondas for 32 years so this begs the question of how many other species there are that we do not know about.
“This finding humbles the mind regarding the true diversity of South America.”
