Man survives 9 days in Amazon rainforest with monkeys' help

Saturday, March 25, 2017, 2:59 PM - Aside from being home to several of the world's most venomous animals and insects, the Bolivian Amazon is typically a tropical climate — hot and humid, with an average annual temperature of roughly 27 C. According to locals, the jungle isn't the best place to wander off. Many say that tourists who stray too far could easily never find their way back, National Geographic reports.

For 25-year-old Maykool Coroseo Acuña, this was fortunately not the case. But the Chilean tourist who survived nine days lost in the Amazon rainforest says he couldn't have done it without the help of some monkeys.

While camping at Madidi National Park, near the Tuichi River, Acuña wandered away from his tour group and got lost. Despite the park's extreme landscape, missing persons aren't a common occurrence at Madidi, National Geographic reports. Until now, not one guest has gone missing in 15 years.

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According to Feizar Nava, owner of the tour group that Acuña travelled with, other tourists reported Acuña to be acting strangely the day before his disappearance. Nava told National Geographic that Acuña declined to attend a ceremony the night he went missing, and when a tour guide went to check on him moments after he was last seen, Acuña was gone.

Park officials conducted a search for several days, with shamans called in to help conduct a spiritual search as well. Acuña's family — his father, step-mother, and sister — flew in to the camp for the search.

Six days into the search, guides came across a pivotal discovery: a stray sock, covered in mud, on the ground. Acuña's step-mother verified that the sock belonged to him.

The following day, rangers and guides from the tour group heard shouting from down the river. It was Acuña.

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Acuña told National Geographic that he removed his sandals and socks in an unexplainable urge to get out of the rainforest.

“I started running,” he told the publication. “I was wearing sandals and I said no, they would slow me down. I threw away the sandals, then the cell phone and my flashlight. And after running so much, I stopped under a tree and I started thinking. What had I done, what was I doing? And when I wanted to get back it wasn’t possible.”

Upon rescue, Acuña said he was led to the river by monkeys, who dropped fruit from the trees and led him to find water and shelter every day. When he was found, Acuña was dehydrated and reportedly suffered from many insect bites.

The Bolivian Amazon is home to a variety of monkeys, and it remains unclear which species in particular helped Acuña survive.

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