Austin Stevens

In December 2007, Austin Stevens married his second wife Amy, a young python keeper from Australia. Following the marriage, Stevens relocated to Australia. On 5 September 2016, Stevens revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

After leaving the Transvaal Snake Park, he took up a position as Curator of Herpetology at the Nordharzer Schlangenfarm in Germany, a park which he helped design and bring into operation before returning to South Africa, where he took up the position as Curator of Reptiles at the Hartbeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park. In an effort to generate funds and public interest in the plight of African gorillas, Stevens set a record by spending 107 days and nights in a glass cage with 36 of the most venomous and dangerous snakes in India. On the 96th day, he was bitten by an Egyptian cobra but to many people's amazement, he refused to leave the cage and was instead treated inside the cage. Although very sick from the snakebite, Stevens recovered and completed the 107 days, beating the existing Guinness World Record (documented in the Guinness Book of Animal Records). His world record has never been duplicated nor broken, though there have been a number of other attempts at similar records (records attempted with different conditions and snakes to Stevens' record.) Stevens authored a book entitled Snakes in my Bed from the experience.

Stevens' career in herpetology also included hosting a TV programme called Austin Stevens: Snakemaster. The show aired on Animal Planet in the United States and 5 in the United Kingdom. For season two, the series was rechristened Austin Stevens Adventures, which, in a similar vein to fellow Animal Planet shows The Crocodile Hunter and The Jeff Corwin Experience, began focusing on other animals, such as rhinos and hyenas, along with snakes; the show was presented in high definition and broadcast a total of 28 episodes before ending in 2009. His book The Last Snake Man was published in the UK by Noir Publishing.

Following his time in the army, Stevens was a member of various motorcycle gangs. He gave up motorcycles in 1974 after a near-fatal accident during a race. After being offered and accepting a job at the Transvaal Snake Park, near Johannesburg, which rekindled his passion for wildlife, he became the curator of reptiles at the Transvaal Snake Park, where he spent six years undergoing hands-on training to become a fully qualified herpetologist, photographer and filmmaker.

Austin Stevens (born 19 May 1950) is a South African-born Australian naturalist, herpetologist, wildlife photographer, documentarian, television personality, and author best known as the host of the Animal Planet nature documentary series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster (2004−09).