A British explorer who killed and ate his own dog to stay alive in the jungle has shared his tips to escape a rainforest if you ever get lost.
It comes after four children were left stranded in the Amazon in Colombia after a plane crashed at the beginning of May.
The youngsters, aged one to 13, battled against the forces of the jungle after they had abandoned their dying mother in a bid to stay alive.
The psychological struggle the siblings endured in the month leading up to their rescue is one that only a select few will have faced - except for explorer Benedict Allen.
Benedict spent more than a month trekking across the Amazon basin back in 1983.
Along his way he was attacked by gold miners with knives and spent weeks trying to get out of the treacherous jungle.
The 22-year-old had flown to South America to cross between Orinoco and Amazon river mouths, the MailOnline reports.
Allen, who shot to fame through his books and TV series, spent most of his time in isolation or coming up against life-threatening situations.
One of his most harrowing tales includes the time he delivered a fatal blow to the back of his adopted dog's head, before slitting its throat and eating it.
He has studied countless indigenous people over his four decades as an explorer and detailed exactly how to keep safe if you're ever lost in the jungle.
He advises you to stick where you are, but to mark where you are if you decide to move.
"You can snap twigs all the way along – just keep marking what you've got, so that you can retrieve. It's always about being able to retrieve if necessary," he explained.
The explorer said if there is a plane wreckage, similar to the young children in Colombia, you should "definitely stick with the plane" because of the transponder.
He added: "There will be a search party – someone will come looking. They will probably see the wreckage, which might be strewn.
"There will be a flight path. The flights have to say where they are heading and there will be a flight path that searchers head along looking for it."
After you've made that decision, Benedict recommends you get cracking on setting up camp.
Collect palm leaves to use as shelter overnight by propping them up against a tree and along the floor to keep off the rain and keep you in the warmth.
He said it was extremely important to build up a bed with the palm leaves, which will help separate you from the ants, snakes, spiders and scorpions, which could be lurking in the soil.
Sleeping near a river can pose some dangers, the experienced explorer explained.
He said flash flooding can lead to the water rising quite dangerously, and being so close to a riverbank can attract animals.
Benedict added: "I don't think you'd get attacked by a caiman. In Australia, New Guinea you might get attacked by a saltwater crocodile.
"They really are a problem. Stay away from water."
If staying put isn't an option for you, then it's best to search for a river and float downstream with it, Benedict says.
He said: "If it wasn't for children, what I would do, especially if I had a rucksack is use a bag to float downriver.
"Certainly on a plane you should be able to find some sort of bag.
"Put air in it, swing it around so it's got air in it, tie it with a bit of cord – there will probably be some sort of cord on that plane – and you make a sort of water pillow, as it were, and then you can float down the river on it.
"It's probably your best chance in any situation. Find a river and try and float down it. You're likely to get rapids in somewhere like the Amazon."
He adds that the rivers can bring their own problems, including stingrays, but it's "a good way" of not spending too much energy.
The explorer realises many people will be feeling deflated after such a tragedy and struggling to stay positive, but remaining motivated is a key to survival, explains.
Benedict said: "In the end survival is really 80 per cent about the mind – your attitude. If you've got a fighting attitude you can believe that you can survive. Then you're sort of two-thirds of the way."
He urges people despite the situation to try and calm down and says the 13-year-old girl in the recent crash would have known to stay calm and try and keep her one-year-old sibling alive.
Speaking about when he was in the jungle at 22, Benedict commented: "I just thought 'I can't let my mum and dad down' and 'somehow I've got to keep walking for their sake.'
"What happened was, I was attacked by gold miners and they chased me in the night.
"I still don't know why they attacked me, but they were drunk and they probably thought I'd stolen something or they were worried about me reporting they were there.
"They came for me in the night with knives and I jumped into my canoe and escaped. But my canoe capsized and I lost everything, and I had to walk out of the forest.
"And famously, I ended up having to eat my dog to survive. This was way back in 1983.
"It was a terrible, terrible thing and I wouldn't really wish it on anyone. But the fact is I had two sorts of malaria and I had to somehow get out of the forest. And I knew that the dog was dying and I was dying so my one chance was to kill the dog and get a bit of flesh and get a bit of food and that's how I survived."
He explained how for every 100 paces he walked he would scratch a mark into the stick he had to remind him and that the process to get out of the forest was long and slow.
One of the key things he did to escape the forest was to think of it as a resource.
He added: "You have to calm down and list in your mind what you have on your side. And then they had the manioc (cassava) flour.
"So they could have for example used petrol from the plane. There's probably petrol there. Obviously if you can create a spark after extracting it you've got an instant ready-made fire ".
The explorer says eating berries, which are nearly all edible, is a must, although it can be a dangerous game trying to guess which plants and berries are poisonous.
"There is a basic rule there that all palm fruit is edible," he explained.
"Snails, generally very safe. Worms, generally safe. A lot of bark beetles, especially if you can cook them, the larvae are good. A huge amount of protein and energy."
He goes on to say having a small survival kit, like he did in 1983, is a great help and should include fishing hooks, fishing line, small blades you can use for cutting things or for putting on a spear.
A torch, a little notepad and pencil are also handy to be able to leave messages to say you've left that place on a certain day and you're heading northwest or whatever.
Other quirky things to include are waterproof matches, tinder and women's Tampax.
The explorer explains: "Very, very brilliant for getting a fire going because they are compacted cotton wool.
"And actually a condom, weirdly, because with a condom you can carry a huge amount of water."
Benedict also says to be wary of TV experts and their advice, as it can lead to a waste of energy.
He urges people to try and take in as many calories as they can without expending many by setting up traps and other things to catch food.
