Emmy-winning TV host Jeff Corwin was literally bitten by the ecology bug at a young age. His first experience with nature involved a not-too-friendly — but nonvenomous — garter snake. He went on to major in biology and now hosts Animal Planet's popular "The Jeff Corwin Experience." He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and daughter.
Any other child who was bitten by a snake would have a lifetime fear of them.
"I was in my grandparents' backyard, and I stumbled upon this incredible creature, which I had no idea what it was — this legless, scaly, quickly sliding animal that disappeared into the rocks and logs. I just sort of dug in after it. I instinctively reached down and grabbed onto it and it grabbed onto me. I walked back in the house with this thing hanging on my arm and, of course, everyone just freaked out. But my parents were really calm about it. They helped me get it off, and we released it. It really hardwired me as to what I wanted to do as an adult."
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Were you shocked by the thrashing you got from the elephant when you were with Anderson Cooper filming "Planet in Peril"?
"That would be one of those examples I would give that despite every best effort it doesn't always work out (laughing). I was absolutely shocked by that. These were elephants that seven days a week, twice a day are taken down to this water hole. These are animals that live in captivity. They have been victimized by poachers, but we were there to really tell the story of why elephants need to be protected. You know elephants are complex creatures with complex behaviors. I actually have problems watching it. It happened so quickly and was incredibly painful. Many of the ligaments in my arm were crushed, but I didn't have any broken bones. The violence of it and the velocity of it, once it happened I knew it was going to happen and there was nothing I could do about it. So I wasn't going to panic. I screamed out because of the pain because it was a real crush. People were on it in seconds. It was about five or six seconds, but (it) was probably the closest time I ever came to having a serious problem with an animal. After a lifetime of work I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me. This isn't how it's gonna be, is it?' "
Has any progress been made in halting the destruction of the rain forests around the world?
"There have been some successful moments. There have been a number of reserves created and new national parks. We are not far off from the day when the only rain forests left are rain forests that are locked up in exclusive, restricted, private and public sanctuaries. Sheer wilderness- and frontier-type places are going away. You know we lose about 3,000 acres of rain forest every hour. Madagascar has lost 90 percent of its habitat. So we are still in the thick of it and not even close to seeing a beacon of light."
Did the sudden death of Steve Irwin give you pause?
"I don't know of any other time someone expired as a result of a stingray. Some people have had severe allergic reactions, but they sting totally out of defense. It's not an aggressive creature. It did not give me pause in the way I think people would think. I didn't say, 'Oh, I better be careful. I better watch my step.' That is not how I looked at it. Steve was a really good husband, a really good father and had a really tight relationship with his family. Celebrities and TV people, we come and go . . . but you cannot replace a family. That's what I took stock of. My career has a value. It is a tool to allow me to share the message I want to share and build a life for my family that I want them to have, but that's what it is and life outside of that to me with friends and family is far more significant.
