一英国生物学家在圭亚那捕获一条18英尺长巨蟒

Most people trekking through the jungle would turn tail and run a mile the opposite direction if they came face to face with a giant anaconda.

But not Niall McCann. Like a real-life Indiana Jones he decided instead to do battle with the beast - something he said was a lifetime's ambition.

The adventurer, who has rowed the Atlantic and trekked across Greenland's Polar Ice Cap, pounced on the 18ft-long jungle giant, which weighed around 100kg and had a girth of 27ins.

Dodging snaps from its giant fangs, Mr McCann wrestled the monster to the ground and held its head until his companions were able to run to his aid.

The 29-year-old biologist from Cardiff had been exploring the tropical rainforests of Guyana when he happened across the snake on a bank of the Rewa River.

Capturing the beast fulfilled a lifetime's ambition for the brave scientist, who has a passion for handling creatures that would have most people shaking in their boots.

He said: 'I'd always dreamed of seeing an anaconda and I knew that our work in Guyana would give us a real possibility of seeing one.

'I was trying to hold its head to the ground and it kept trying to turn its head to bite me - it was a wrestle.

'Its strength was amazing and when a ripple went through its body it shook all of us.'-18th September 2011

Jungle adventure: Niall McCann, right, and Rob Pickles, second from left, ably assisted by some local guides, struggle to lift the 18ft anaconda they caught in a jungle in Guyana