Going wild
Imagine being waist-deep in bat droppings only to realise a snake just bit your leg. Or standing next to a 2-tonne hippo to collect some sweat samples off its back. Obviously you don't want to imagine. After all, who would? For one, Dr Brady Barr.
The sweat of hippos is known to contain very strong protective agents which could be used to develop powerful antibiotics and sun-blocking agents (Hippo-blessed SPF anyone?).
If a few ounces of hippo sweat could be sourced, scientists could use it to work towards developing what could perhaps become a major breakthrough in the field of medicine.
Very well. But how does one get that invaluable test tube brimming with hippo sweat? Simple. Put the test tube to the skin of a hippo and wait for it to fill up.
And who is going to pull off this incredible feat? It calls for Rambo-esque action you know.
First, swim up to a herd of hippos, don't die of fright as you get closer, don't push the wrong buttons while inside Hippoville and then, slowly, gently slide up to a mammoth member of the tribe and scrape the pearls of sweat off its back into a vial and swim c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y back to safety, with not a single human-caused ripple signaturing itself on the water's surface.
Can you do that?
Dr Brady Barr can. In fact, Dr Barr has done that and much more. Like chasing Komodo dragons and salamanders, studying giant squid up close, cavorting with pythons in Indonesian caves ...
But his hippo encounter "was easily the most dangerous thing I have done", says the resident herpetologist at National Geographic. His exploits are going to be telecast on the National Geographic World channel this month.
Tipping the scales at nearly two tonnes, with canine teeth that can measure up to 30 centimetres from gum to tip, the hippopotamus, one of the largest mammals on earth, is also known to possess a bone-crunching bite. And that was what Dr Barr wanted to learn more about before setting off to collect hippo sweat.
If you get too close to them and if they feel threatened, you could be trampled or mauled. So one has to be extremely careful in the presence of these water babies. Therefore, it helps if you are attired in a better-than-bullet-proof suit.
Thus, Step 1 in operation sweat collection involved building a Kevlar suit which could withstand a hippo bite and camouflage the wearer.
It took Barr's team 40 days and 500 man hours to design and build his 90-kilogram Kevlar hippo suit. Dr Barr did not want to take stupid risks so he also tested it at a crash test facility to ensure it could withstand a hippo bite. (He had narrowly escaped being bitten by a hippo at a Malaysian zoo and the bite he discovered was nearly a tonne
of force!)
Finally, the body armour was ready. It featured a fibreglass head which was a replica of a hippo in a submissive posture (to decrease the possibility of a violent attack), and hatches at the sides through which Dr Barr could reach out and conduct tests. Four cameras were concealed on the sides to provide the wearer with a 360°view.
It was also covered in hippo dung and mud to mask the smell of a human.With the suit ready, Dr Barr headed to South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, home to more than 9,000 hippos. He teamed up with a park ranger and had a support crew on stand by in case something went wrong. Dr Barr then crawled inside the suit and began wading up to the hippos.
"It was very scary, yet also very exhilarating," says Dr Barr. "It was scary being alone and claustrophobic inside (the suit). However, it was also very exciting getting so close to animals like hyenas, elephants, lions and, of course, hippos."
His exploits are all there in the episode on hippos which will also be telecast sometime this month.
You can see him move around in the heavy suit and vicariously experience some of his tribulations like when he gets stuck in ten-inch-deep 'holes' which were actually elephant footprints in the soft soil and when his surveillance cameras broke down and he was almost clueless as to where he was headed.
Dr Barr had to spend close to six hours in the hot, humid and pungent-smelling suit before he ... smelt success.
At night, when the temperatures dipped, the hippos clambered back from the mud pools to the shore to feed, and Dr Barr grabbed his chance. He stole up to them and did the deed: collecting the valuable sweat samples.
"Lots of scientists work on animals but very few actually get to enter the world of their subjects as I did. For a brief moment, I was one of them and got to see their world (as if) through their eyes. It was an amazing opportunity," he says.
For someone who grew up loving all creatures in the animal kingdom, Dr Brady Barr was quite sure that he would end up becoming a zookeeper. "Never in a million years did I imagine I would be doing stuff that I am involved in now," he told Friday in an online interview.
"I am considered an expert on crocodiles having worked on them for almost 20 years." It was while he was working on his PhD research project which involved pumping the stomachs of alligators to see what they had eaten that his career experienced a twist.
"I had many film crews (capturing my work) because it was such an interesting project. Nat Geo was one of them and they told me that I was very good on camera and made an offer to exclusively work with them after I completed my project. The rest is history."
Eleven years and still going strong at National Geographic, Dr Barr has dedicated his career to the research and study of the lifestyle of little-known creatures. He has set many records in the deep dark forests and rivers around the world - chasing pythons, Komodo dragons, salamanders, squids and now, hippopotami.
"Another scary moment was when I was bitten by a 3.5-metre python in the remote caves of Indonesia," he says. "I was trying to study the lifestyle of this unique creature, the longest of all snake species."
For this he had to first travel to Zoo Negara in Malaysia to measure what is considered to be the longest snake in captivity. "I was quite literally knocked over by the snake's size and power!" he recalls.
"The Indonesian cave that herpetologist, Dr Mark Auliya, and I explored was fraught with danger - waist-deep bat guano (a euphemism for droppings!), cockroaches, snakes, giant spiders, concentrated ammonia, not enough oxygen ..."
In the midst of all this, he and Auliya tried to capture the snake which slithered away into the river of bat faeces. And then suddenly, Dr Barr felt a sharp pain in his leg - the reptile had bit his limb.
Barr was in serious danger of infection. To get treatment, he had to hike for hours uphill and then was treated at two local clinics.
But that did not deter him from researching the reptile. Six weeks later, he returned to the cave to collect more information on python biology and the need to protect these caves as a vital resource for these magnificent,
giant snakes.
So is it foolhardiness or plain fascination for wildlife that drives him? "I have a thirst for knowledge; an insatiable appetite to find out as much as I can about something and that's what motivates me," he says.
"That and educating others about what I have learned. The cave was definitely scary and very dangerous, but it offered so much in terms of new findings, valuable data, discoveries, etc, that I simply couldn't resist the place. We made plans for a return visit in August.
"I do court danger, but I am very careful in everything I do. But when an accident like this (snakebite) occurs, it reminds me not to get complacent, to stay safe, to take every precaution. I'm not as stupid as I look.
"I definitely understand that television and science are not worth dying for. I may push the limit occasionally but I am very serious and dedicated in my approach to hands-on research."
Having had many near-death experiences, Dr Barr displays a profound understanding of the fragility of life: "Yes, I have had many, many close calls. They scare me and often return (to haunt me) in my nightmares.
"I have injured myself in my sleep struggling to get away from something that was scaring me in my dreams. It terrifies my wife. She has to wake me up and get me to understand that she is not a crocodile or a snake and that I am at home safe in bed. (The memories) haunt me.
"I am very, very careful, but these animals all have an unpredictable element. Venomous snakes concern me the most because they are so fast. You can do everything right and still be bitten." Dr Barr remembers a close friend of his who succumbed to snake bite.
"It really made me re-valuate everything. I try not to forget the close calls, rather, I use them as reminders to be careful, because a single mistake could be my last."
It brings to mind the tragic death of Australian wildlife enthusiast Steve Irwin, who died after being pierced through his heart by a stingray.
But Dr Barr says that he doesn't go very close to these animals if it is only for filming them. "I am a scientist and involved in research projects. I never capture an animal simply for the sake of television viewing.
There has to be a scientific reason for putting my hands on an animal. It is just too dangerous, not only for me, but also for the animals, to interact with them without a really good reason.
"The kind of questions I want answered involve hands-on research, getting up close and personal and there's no other way around it. I am not sure what Irwin did, but he was
no researcher."
Barr thinks the key to getting to such close quarters of a dangerous wild creature is to not get mesmerised by
its power but to plan meticulously and take all precautions.
"I always have to be in control. When you are not in control, you die.
The adrenalin rush of encountering a creature is addictive, but I have learned that you have to remain in control ... otherwise you won't be around long."
Dr Barr admits that he draws on his experience as well as that of other professionals in the field. When it is not hippopotami and snakes and crocodiles, it is Komodo dragons that take up his time.
He recently went on an expedition to the island of Rinca, Indonesia, which has the highest concentration of this 70-kilogram super-predator that exhibits techniques of some of the world's best hunters.
The Komodo dragon is a carnivore, able to devour up to 80 per cent of its body weight in a single meal. It's armed with razor-sharp, serrated teeth, a snake-like forked tongue, body armour and a mouth full of noxious bacteria.
Dr. Barr examined the predatory style of the dragon. In his first experiment, which is to be telecast soon, he covered a remote-control car in animal fur to see how, or even if, the dragon would attack it.
In another experiment, he did what no scientist had ever done before: he strapped a camera on to the back of this mammoth reptile. We will need to see onscreen the response of the Komodo dragon.
Why does he go to such great lengths to study wildlife and do programmes for TV? "We need to be aware about the plight of this planet and be better educated on conservation issues and what we can do to make a difference. I really devote my time to crocodile conservation. That is tough sell.
"People don't line up to protect crocodiles like they do for warm and fuzzy animals. TV has been a good classroom for me. I reach 300 million homes globally through my
television series".
But he is aware that exposing these creatures and their habitats on television might mean an unhealthy tourist interest in their dwellings, so he is very discreet about their locations and sometimes even secretive.
His future projects include newly-discovered creatures, old
follow-ups and plenty of action in countries across the globe - Namibia (crocodiles), South Africa (hyenas), Baja (giant squid), Japan and China (giant salamanders) and Indonesia (pythons).
The exploits of Dr Barr will be telecast today on National Geographic World. Please monitor the channel for the timings.
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