Man survives six days in Outback by eating ants

A hunter who got lost in a vast Australian desert managed to survive for six days without water by eating ants, police said.

He was rescued on Tuesday morning about 15km from where he disappeared after Tactical Response Group trackers followed footprints.

He had become lost while chasing a wild male camel almost a week ago.

Western Australian police posted a series of updates during the search on its Facebook page, including the missing man’s footprints and pictures of the moment he was found.

‘It’s been extremely hot, extremely remote and most people probably wouldn’t have survived, so he’s done a fantastic job, ‘ he said.

The brothers had been driving back to their camp 170 kilometers (110 miles) east of the nearest town, Laverton, after a day’s hunting when Foggedy went missing, wearing only a T-shirt, shorts, a cap and flip flops.

“When we found him, he was extremely dehydrated, disoriented and basically delusional”.

“His last couple of days of survival were achieved by lying down under a tree and eating black ants”, Greatwood told local radio.

“I just hope he’s alright, if they’ve got him, they should be pumping stuff into him”, Ms Ogden said.

‘It could happen to anyone out there because of the conditions of the land’. She said the past week had been awful for the family.

Mr Foggerdy’s sister Christine Ogden said Mr Foggerdy’s son Gavin still did not believe his father was alive. “He lived up in Kalgoorlie and surrounding areas for 20-odd years, and he was a miner”. “Emotions have been up and down, it has been very bad”, she said.

Greatwood praised his bush survival skills.