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Christel Yardley / Waikato Times
Pete Bethune is a conservationist who travels the world (File photo).
Hamilton-born environmental champion Captain Pete Bethune is in a hospital in Costa Rica after being bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in South America.
Bethune’s Earthrace nonprofit spokesperson Larisa Kellett said they face an anxious wait overnight and will hear from their doctors in the morning.
Kellett said Bethune was working in the jungle in Costa Rica’s Peninsula de Osa National Park when she was bitten by a deadly fer-de-lance snake.
“It is the deadliest snake in Costa Rica.
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“I had to get out of the jungle and get back to the boat. I know there was at least one other person with him, and they managed to get to the Golfito Hospital ”.
Doctors have told Kellett that he could be transferred to another hospital in the morning.
He was able to talk to Bethune on the phone Sunday night, but not for long.
“He’s not okay, the doctors are trying to keep him stable.
“I am very concerned… A snake bite can have very serious health consequences afterwards, and there are many things we still do not know.
“[But] it’s as serious as it sounds in terms of the type of snake that bit him. “
CHRISTEL YARDLEY / STUFF / Waikato Times
Bethune is believed to have been on patrol looking for illegal gold miners.
It is believed that he was patrolling for illegal gold miners, who are a serious problem in the park.
“It is one of the most biodiverse areas on the planet. Pete was working alongside local rangers, who are sadly underfunded and facing an uphill battle.
“These miners are usually armed, I thought more about receiving a call that they had been shot than bitten by a snake.”
It’s not the first mess the well-known conservationist has been in.
In 2010, he was sentenced to two years in jail by a Japanese court, but was suspended for five years.
In June of that year, Bethune pleaded guilty to charges relating to the illegal boarding of a Japanese whaling ship, but was not guilty of assault.
CHRISTEL YARDLEY / STUFF / Waikato Times
Captain Bethune is currently at the Golfito Hospital in Costa Rica.
He had been detained since February, in a solitary cell for 23 1/2 hours a day, when he boarded the Japanese whaling fleet’s security ship, the Shonan Maru II, during its annual voyage south.
“It changed me quite a bit,” he said. Stuff.
“I left after Japan quite messy. He had a form of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and, with it, he had anger issues. I’d break down real fast. I was fighting. “
In November 2017, he was attending a meeting in Santana, Brazil, when he noticed that he was being followed.
He went into a cafe and when he left he was assaulted by two men, one with a knife.
During the fight, Bethune was stabbed.
“The blade got between my ribs and got stuck there.
“I’ve had a couple of difficult experiences, but I really thought my numbers had increased.”
