A man who survived 31 days in the Amazon jungle says he ate worms, drank his own urine, and fended off wild pigs to stay alive

• A man was stranded for 31 days in the Amazon after being separated from his crew during a hunting trip.
• Jhonatan Acosta says he had to eat worms and insects and drink his own urine to survive.

A Bolivian man says he was stranded for 31 days in the Amazon jungle, and resorted to measures like eating worms and drinking his own urine to survive.

Jhonatan Acosta, 30, was on a hunting trip with four friends when he was separated from them, reported Página Siete, a Bolivian Spanish-language newspaper.

Acosta was stranded in a section of the Amazon in northern Bolivia, per Página Siete. While lost in the jungle, Acosta said he resorted to eating worms and drinking the rainwater he collected in his shoes, per the BBC.

And when the rainwater ran out, he drank his own urine, reported Noticias Telemundo, a Spanish-language news outlet.

"It helped a lot to know about survival techniques: I had to consume insects, drink my urine, and eat worms. I was attacked by animals," Acosta told Bolivian news channel Unitel TV.

Acosta also had to hide from jaguars and fend off peccaries, animals similar to wild pigs, the BBC and Página Siete reported.

—Red Uno De Bolivia HD (@RedUnoTv) February 26, 2023

Making matters worse, Acosta dislocated his ankle four days into being separated from his hunting crew.

"He only had a cartridge in his shotgun, he could no longer walk and he believed that no one was looking for him anymore," his brother told Página Siete.

Acosta was found by a search party 31 days after his disappearance. He had lost around 37 pounds, per Página Siete.

Acosta is now recovering at a health center in the Beni region of Bolivia, per Página Siete. He will give up hunting after this ordeal, his brother told the outlet, and focus on playing his guitar and singing songs praising God.

People have, on occasion, managed to survive for a month in the Amazon. In 2021, pilot Antônio Sena survived after his plane plummeted 3,000 feet into the Amazon, per The New York Times. Sena ended up walking through the jungle for 36 days before he was rescued.