Survival expert Ray Mears is holding out hope that a Brit journalist who went missing in the Amazon rainforest is still alive.
Dom Phillips and his Brazilian colleague Bruno Araujo Pereir, an Indigenous affairs official, vanished in the Javari Valley region more than three days ago.
The vast and "lawless" area is home to the world's largest number of uncontacted indigenous people, as well as narco gangs, illegal hunters and fishermen.
In the days since, police have arrested locals thought to have been involved in an altercation with the pair.
Mr Mears says they may have fled into the jungle for safety after the confrontation in the area he described as the "Wild West".
He told The Mirror: "I don't know what's happened, I really, really hope that they are found alive and well and they return to their families safely."
He added that both men are "courageous" for "reporting from the frontline that the world doesn't realise exists".
Mr Mears said though the area is a "very, very lawless place" there is still a high chance they could survive.
He told The Mirror: "That depends on what equipment they've got with them and what knowledge they have [...]
"If you have the right training and the right equipment, the rainforest can be a very providing place.
"But in many cases you need a certain set of skills to take care of yourself.
"You need a cutting tool. If you've got a cutting tool you can encourage the rainforest to provide you with many resources and to get away from the problems."
He said one of the main issues is then getting shelter off of the forest floor - which is full of "things that bite".
Mr Mears adds: "And if you can identify just a few sources of food. It's not easy, but you can maintain a degree of nourishment."
The veteran survivalist believes there's a good chance the pair fled into the jungle for safety.
"If they're alive, and there's a really good chance they may be found, it may be that they've taken to the trees for safety", he explained.
"They're sensing that, you know, that rainforest can hide you.
"If you feel that you can take care of yourself in it, that's a great thing to do. To run through the rainforest and take shelter and hide.
"But you have to have a means of navigating."
When asked whether a person with no skills is condemned to die in the forest, he said there have been some "astonishing" examples of people surviving long periods of time in the hostile jungle.
"No, I think you have to be more hopeful than that", he said.
"It really depends on the individual because some people can go ahead and they can manage and there are plenty of places where people have done that."
He pointed out an example of a young girl who survived the forest by remembering her father telling her to follow a river if she got lost there because it would "always lead to people".
He added: "There's always hope, and we should be hopeful".
"But I think the story serves to highlight the problems of the Amazon and the dangers.
"And the greatest threat generally in the tropics is people".
