Austin Stevens

Stevens was born on May 19, 1950 in Pretoria, Transvaal. His mother was often ill, lost a lung in a car accident, and died when Stevens was in his 30s; his father owned a small typewriter repair business. Stevens became interested in snakes at the age of 12, and by the time he finished school, his reptile collection included some of the most exotic and venomous species in the world. He traces his adventurous streak back to his grandfather from Bristol, England and part founder of the AJS Motorbike Corporation.

Following his time in the army, Stevens was a member of various motorcycle gangs, but gave up motorcycles in 1974 after suffering a near-fatal accident during a race. After being offered and accepting a job at the Transvaal Snake Park, near Johannesburg, which rekindled his passion for wildlife, he became the curator of reptiles at the Transvaal Snake Park, where he spent six years undergoing hands-on training to become a fully qualified herpetologist, photographer and filmmaker.

After leaving the Transvaal Snake Park, he took up a position as Curator of Herpetology at the Nordharzer Schlangenfarm in Germany, a park which he helped design and bring into operation before returning to South Africa, where he took up the position as Curator of Reptiles at the Hartbeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park. In an effort to generate funds and public interest in the plight of African gorillas, Stevens set a record by spending 107 days and nights in a glass cage with 36 of the most venomous and dangerous snakes in India. On the 96th day, he was bitten by an Egyptian cobra but to many people's amazement, he refused to leave the cage and was instead treated inside the cage. Although very sick from the snakebite, Stevens recovered and completed the 107 days, beating the existing Guinness World Record (documented in the Guinness Book of Animal Records). His world record has never been duplicated nor broken, though there have been a number of other attempts at similar records (records attempted with different conditions and snakes to Stevens' record.) Stevens authored a book entitled Snakes in my Bed from the experience.

Thereafter, Stevens moved to Namibia, where he became involved in wildlife photography and filmmaking.

Stevens' career in herpetology also included hosting a TV programme called Austin Stevens: Snakemaster. The show aired on Animal Planet in the United States and 5 in the United Kingdom. For season two, the series was rechristened Austin Stevens Adventures, which, in a similar vein to fellow Animal Planet shows The Crocodile Hunter and The Jeff Corwin Experience, began focusing on other animals, such as rhinos and hyenas, along with snakes; the show was presented in high definition[4] and broadcast a total of 28 episodes before ending in 2009. His book The Last Snake Man was published in the UK by Noir Publishing.[5]

Stevens never received any formal photography training and says he does not have a large collection of camera gear, preferring to keep his kit compact. In many early episodes of Austin Stevens: Snakemaster, he can be seen using a Canon EOS 50E and a Canon 300D later. In the second season, he uses a Samsung GX-10, which he attaches both Samsung and Pentax lenses to. He also uses a Samsung Pro815 and an unspecified Sony Cybershot model for general use.[6]

Some of his credits:

• Dragons of the Namib,[9] a documentary about the life of the Namaqua Chameleon. Producer and cinematographer.
• Africa's Deadliest Dozen,[10] a documentary about the venomous snakes of Africa. Cinematographer.
• Die Natur der Schlange (German: The Nature of Snakes), a 1997 German Documentary on snakes, aired on ZDF.
• Austin takes wildlife stock photographs for Animals Animals/Earth Scenes[11]
• He is a media donor on ARKive[12]

Books:

• Snakes in My Bed (Penguin 1992)
• The Last Snake Man (Noir Publishing 2007) ISBN 978-0-9536564-6-2
• Snakemaster (Skyhorse Publishing 2014)

DVDS:

• Snake Bite: In Search of the King Cobra (Go Entertain 2005)
• Austin Stevens: Snakemaster (first three episodes)

• Austin Stevens: Snakemaster

• Austin Stevens on Twitter
• Austin Steven's Official Website (closes in July, 2016)
• Austin Stevens (II) on IMDb
• Austin Stevens: Snakemaster Animal Planet fan site
• Noir Publishing