South African-born Austin James Stevens is fascinated by snakes and reptiles. It’s been that way since he was 12.

His life story is both diverse and full of adventure. As a young man, he served in the South African army during the war in Angola. His fellow soldiers gave him the nickname “Snakeman” because of his uncanny ability to track, identify, and remove venomous snakes. It was a skill the soldiers depended on frequently and that nearly cost Stevens his life when he was called in to remove a puff adder, a highly venomous snake, from a machine-gun trench.

The snake struck Stevens on the hand and he was rushed to the nearest hospital. The journey entailed a rough, 300-mile drive by jeep through enemy territory and a 1,000-mile flight aboard an army spotter plane that made an emergency landing in front of the Windhoek Hospital in Namibia. Stevens lay in a coma for five days before doctors were certain he would survive. They then struggled for three months to save his hand from amputation.

After his stint in the army, Stevens received a call from the director of the Transvaal Snake Park. He had heard about Stevens’ extraordinary abilities with snakes and offered him the position of curator of reptiles for a three-month trial period. Three months turned into six years, during which time Stevens received intensive training and became a full-fledged herpetologist.

Stevens’ duties at the park included reptile demonstrations, which became so popular that he was approached by Compass, a South African television program, to appear with live reptiles for a studio show. The program was a hit and led to several more shows.

Established as an experienced herpetologist, Stevens left Transvaal Snake Park, and, in 1981, started working at the Hartebeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park, the largest privately owned park in Southern Africa. Here he learned about the husbandry of mammals as well and was introduced to the world of filmmaking — many of the park’s animals were trained to perform in feature films.

During this time Stevens set a Guinness World Record in 1986. He spent 107 days and nights in a glass cage with 36 of Africa’s deadliest snakes as a publicity stunt to stimulate public awareness about the plight of the African gorilla and to raise funds for their protection. On Day 96, Stevens was bitten by a cobra but refused to leave the cage and was treated on the spot. Very sick and on his last reserves of stamina, Stevens completed the 107 days, still an unbeaten world record.

Stevens spent the next year creating, designing, and eventually running the Nordharzer Schalangen Paradies Snake Park in Germany and wrote his first book, Snakes in My Bed, a humorous look at the extraordinary life and times of a herpetologist.

Returning to Africa, Stevens settled in Namibia, a desert country with a small population and an abundance of untamed wilderness. In Namibia, he began to seriously concentrate on wildlife photography and writing. To date, he has published more than 150 articles in magazines around the world, many featuring his own photography, and has won numerous photographic awards.

When Stevens was asked to assist in the making of a documentary about hyenas and lions in Botswana, he found himself instantly drawn to filmmaking. He bought a secondhand 16mm camera, and, with only very rudimentary knowledge of the process, he set about making a film about snakes. The film was released by NDR Television in Germany and was later nominated for an award at the Grenoble Film Awards Festival in France. Since then Stevens has been involved with numerous film projects about reptiles, wild dogs, elephants, vultures and most recently, a unique documentary about the life of a Namib Desert chameleon.

When he’s not traveling the world, Stevens lives in Namibia.