'Naked and Afraid XL' contestants make shocking decision with 12-foot anaconda

On Sunday’s Naked and Afraid XL, three survivalists were fortunate enough to catch an 80-pound anaconda and kind enough to let it go free. Waz Addy, Matt Wright and Dan Link are all hoping to last 60 days in the Amazon rainforest, and to do that they need lots of protein. But sometimes, it’s more important to do what is right than do what is most logical.

“This snake is as big around as most persons’ thighs,” exclaimed Wright. “This thing's 80 pounds.”

“It's got fat on it too,” Link agreed.

Even though the threesome still have more than three weeks left and that much protein could feed them for several days, Addy began to have second thoughts. He knows that the people of the Amazon consider the animal to be a “religious symbol.”

“I gotta be honest with you, though,” Addy interjected in the revelry. “Look, it's a lot of meat and in a survival situation this is a hard thing to put down, you know, but obviously we don't want to kill things we don't need to kill.”

Just a day before capturing the snake, Wright shot an anteater with an arrow. Since they still had leftover stew from the kill, they could afford to search for other, less culturally important protein. So they decided to let the snake go.

“The Amazon people believe this animal has got magic powers and has actually crafted many of the Amazon basin,” Wright said. “You know, even though it makes the stomach growl a bit it fills the heart and the soul to watch an anaconda go unharmed back into the wild. One of the most beautiful moments I’ve had on a Naked and Afraid challenge.”

Naked and Afraid XL airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Discovery.

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