Austin Stevens (born 19 May 1950) is a South African-born Australian naturalist,

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

wildlife photographer Wildlife photography is a genre of photography concerned with documenting various forms of wildlife in their natural habitat. As well as requiring photography skills, wildlife photographers may need field craft skills. For example, some anima ...

, documentarian, television personality, and author. He is best known as the host of the

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily ...

nature documentary A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage of t ...

series ''Austin Stevens: Snakemaster'' (2004−09).

Early life

Stevens was born on 19 May 1950 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the footh ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

. 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 Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints ...

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 Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England and part founder of the AJS Motorbike Corporation.

Career

Stevens' career in herpetology also included hosting a TV programme called ''Austin Stevens: Snakemaster''. The show aired on

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 ''The Crocodile Hunter'' was a wildlife documentary television series hosted by Steve Irwin and his wife, Terri. The show became a popular franchise due to Irwin's unconventional approach to wildlife. It spawned a number of separate projects ...

'' and ''

The Jeff Corwin Experience ''The Jeff Corwin Experience'' is an American wildlife documentary television program that premiered on the Animal Planet cable channel in 2000. It was hosted by actor and conservationist Jeff Corwin, who previously hosted Disney Channel's '' ...

'', began focusing on other animals, such as

rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

s and

hyena Hyenas, or hyaenas (from Ancient Greek , ), are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae . With only four extant species (each in its own genus), it is the fifth-smallest family in the Carnivora and one of the smallest in the cla ...

s, along with snakes; the show was presented in high definition 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. Stevens uses a Samsung Pro815 and an unspecified Sony Cybershot model for general use.

Personal life

In December 2007, Austin Stevens married his second wife Amy, a young python keeper from Australia. Following the marriage, Stevens relocated to Australia. In September 2016, Stevens revealed that he had been diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

Works

Some of his credits: *''Dragons of the Namib'', a documentary about the life of the Namaqua Chameleon. Producer and cinematographer. *''Africa's Deadliest Dozen'', 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 ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

. *Austin takes wildlife stock photographs for Animals Animals/Earth Scenes *He is a media donor on

ARKive ARKive was a global initiative with the mission of "promoting the conservation of the world's threatened species, through the power of wildlife imagery", which it did by locating and gathering films, photographs and audio recordings of the worl ...

Books: *''Snakes in My Bed'' (Penguin 1992) *''The Last Snake Man'' (Noir Publishing 2007) *Snakemaster (Skyhorse Publishing 2014) DVDS: *''Snake Bite: In Search of the King Cobra'' (Go Entertain 2005) *''Austin Stevens: Snakemaster'' (first three episodes)

References

External links

Austin Steven's Official Website
(closes in July, 2016) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Austin J. 1950 births Living people People from Pretoria People from Gauteng South African people of English descent South African non-fiction writers South African herpetologists Nature photographers South African photographers South African emigrants to Australia Australian photographers Australian herpetologists Australian writers Australian people of English descent