Austin James Stevens……A Renowned Herpetologist….

Austin James Stevens (born 19 May 1950) is a South African-born herpetologist and wildlife photographer best known for hosting a series of snake documentaries. Austin is also the author of 2 books.

Biography

Austin Stevens was born in Pretoria, South Africa,[citation needed] and became interested in snakes at the age of 12. By the time he finished school, his reptile collection included some of the most exotic and venomous species in the world, and was considered one of the most important in South Africa

Early Snake Fascination
Stevens was first interested with snakes at the age of 12. He brought snakes home when he found them.His house was inhabited by many snakes.His parents did not like this but they were proud to tell people of how their son kept snakes. Stevens describes his parents as “conventional”. His mother lost a lung in a car accident as a girl, was often ill, and died when Stevens was in his thirties; his father owned a small typewriter repair business. He traces his adventurous streak back to his grandfather from Bristol, England – also named Austin James Stevens – part founder of the AJS motorbike corporation, but later took the boat to Africa.

South African Army
Austin served in the South African Army during the war in Angola, during which he was called upon to identify and remove snakes from the battlefield or anywhere where they bothered his fellow troops. During this time, he suffered his first bite from a puff adder while removing it from a machine-gun trench. As a result, he found himself in a desperate race against time to save his life that included an approximately 300-kilometer trip through rugged bush and enemy territory and later a 1,600-kilometer flight, which made an emergency landing on the road at the front of a hospital in Namibia. Stevens remained in a coma for the next five days. Doctors worked for more than three months to save his hand from being removed. However he did lose part of his finger to the effects of the venom.

After leaving the Army
Austin got heavily into motorbikes and motorbike gangs and spent years riding around being a self described "loose cannon". He gave up the world of motorbikes in 1974 after a disastrous near fatal accident. What saved him, he says, was being offered a job at the Transvaal Snake Park, near Johannesburg, which rekindled his passion for wildlife. Austin took up the position as curator of reptiles at the Transvaal Snake Park, where he spent the six years undergoing hands-on training to become a fully qualified herpetologist.

Photographer and film maker
After Austin left the Transvaal Snake Park he took up a position as Curator of Herpetology at the Nordharzer Shlangenfarm in Germany, a park which he helped design and bring into operation before later again returning to Africa, where he took up the position as Curator of Reptiles at the Hartebeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park. In an effort to generate funds and public interest in the plight of African gorillas, Austin set a record by spending 107 days and nights in a cage with 36 of the most venomous and dangerous snakes in Africa. On the 96th day, he was bitten by a cobra, but to many people's amazement he refused to leave the cage and was instead treated in the cage. Although he was very sick at that time, Austin completed the 107 days and beat the existing Guinness World Record (documented in the Guinness Book of Animal Records). This record has never been broken. From this experience, he authored a book entitled Snakes in my Bed.
Thereafter, Austin relocated to Namibia where he became involved in wildlife photography and film making.
Nowadays Austin's career in herpetology includes presenting a series of TV programmes about reptiles and other wild animals. The main program Austin Stevens: Snakemaster is also known as Austin Stevens: Most Dangerous on Animal Planet, and Austin Stevens Adventures broadcast on five in the United Kingdom. His latest book The Last Snake Man has been published in the UK by Noir Publishing.
Some of the cameras he uses while photographing wildlife include the Samsung GX-10, Canon EOS 50E and the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT.

Personal life
Stevens lives in Swakopmund, Namibia, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the desolate vastness of the Namib Desert.Stevens stays fit and sharp by practising martial arts, in particular, nunchaku. He claims it keeps his reflexes heightened when working with venomous snakes.

In December of 2007, Stevens married Amy Wilcher, a young photo model and python keeper from Australia.

He has a passion for cars, specially the Mazda RX series. Stevens’s latest acquisition is a 2.6 litre Mazda pickup truck, adapted for bush travel.

Works
Some of his works:

* Dragons Of the Namib, a documentary about the life of the Namaqua Chameleon. Listed as of the Producers and Director of Photography.
* Africa's Deadliest Dozen, a documentary about the venomous snakes of Africa. Listed as Cinematographer.
Also, his photos are shown in these sites:
* Jeff Corwin's Carnival of Creatures, where a picture of a common krait was shown.
* Animals Animals/Earth Scenes, where he has submitted images of not just snakes, but dozens of other animals such as birds and lizards(search for "Austin Stevens").
* He is a media donor on ARKive and his photos used in the site are shown here.

Books:

* Snakes In My Bed (Penguin 1992)

* The Last Snake Man (Noir Publishing 2007) ISBN-13: 978-0953656462

DVDS:

* Snake Bite - In Search Of The King Cobra (Go Entertain 2005)

* Deadliest Snakes (Green Umbrella 2007)

* Austin Stevens: Snakemaster (series)