A man lost in the jungle for 31 days has said he came face to face with jaguars and survived by eating roots and drinking from rivers during his ordeal.

The man, who is grateful to have survived, said that as a result of the ordeal, he is going to give up hunting and dedicate his life to making music for God.

Jhonatan Acosta, 30, got lost in a mountainous area of the Baures municipality, in the Bolivian jungle, while out on a hunt with some friends on 25th January.

A search operation was launched to find him but a month later, there were no signs of life.

But his friends and family never gave up hope that they would see him alive again because they said Jhonatan “knew the jungle very well”.

And sure enough, a month after he went missing, people looking for him heard him shouting “Please, get me out of here!”

He said that he had heard their voices near the area where he was lost and was desperate to attract their attention.

At first, the people looking for him thought that it was another member of the search and rescue party who was asking for help, but they quickly realised this was not the case when they saw him.

At first, they were afraid, according to local media, because he looked very different to the man who had disappeared a month beforehand and he had a shotgun in his hands.

After drinking some water and eating some food, the first thing that Jhonatan did was get washed.

One of the people looking for him told local media: “He bathed, we took off his boots, his feet were terrifying.”

Jhonatan was reportedly greeted with shouts of joy and firecrackers in the town of Baures on the night of Saturday, 25th February, 31 days after going missing.

A source told local media: “We always had faith. Unfortunately, he was not with a machete or a knife and his shotgun was broken, but somehow he was feeding. Thank you all very much.”

Jhonatan reportedly survived by drinking water from rivers and streams and by eating roots and worms. He had reportedly had encounters with jaguars as well.

His younger brother, named as Horacio Acosta, told local media: “On Saturday we were with the [indigenous] Ayoreos [people] and with people who came to help us. There were about 17 of us. We looked in the lake and on land… 

“There were four people from the town who found him, at first they were afraid of approaching him, but they found him… I have been to those places, there is no explanation. I was on the other side of the mountain, and we had to meet for lunch, but we were at the ranch, and we saw a person come running and they told us that they had found my brother. And then he walked out.”

Horacio said it was “a miracle”, adding: “The truth is that I felt happy, relieved, very blessed. It is a miracle. We have to take advantage of this life opportunity that has been given to the whole family. We have to be united, be more together. Everything we’ve been through isn’t pretty.”

Jhonatan was taken to hospital to be treated for dehydration. He was also reportedly “very skinny” because he had not eaten any meat.

He told local media that he was on the verge of losing hope when he was found.

Horacio said: “My brother wants to go to the mountains and he wants to say goodbye. He is going to dedicate himself to making music for God. He is not going to hunt again. He promised that he was going to make music for God and I think he is going to keep it.”