INTREPID Malvern man Mark Witcomb has returned from an expedition mapping forests and catching animals on the other side of the world.

Mr Witcomb spent six months in Vietnam documenting flora and fauna.

His work was part of an effort to get the country's government to designate protection for more areas of its rainforest from hunters and developers.

"Vietnam has only got one per cent of its rainforest left, but that is well worth saving," he explained.

"In the 1990s two new species of mammal were found there, the first such discovery in 50 years."

An international ecological organisation called Frontier organised the trip, and Mr Witcomb went out with a group to stay in the jungle and observe wildlife.

The trip was not without incident. On his way to the Vu Quang nature reserve, the truck he was in slid off a muddy track and landed on its side.

No-one was seriously hurt, although a member of his expedition was trapped underneath and had to go to hospital.

"Despite the snakes, spiders and poisonous creatures, the most dangerous thing out there is the driving," he asserted, "And I'm not joking.

"Trucks sliding off the road like that is a common occurrence. People don't even bother to check when they're overtaking, they just pull out, and there are some terrible head-on collisions."

The group lived in tents made of tarpaulin stretched over bamboo poles, and had to contend with leeches, poisonous creatures and the local rice liquor, which he described as "toxic".

Humidity was so bad no clothes would dry except over a fire, permeating everything with woodsmoke and leeches seized every opportunity to attach themselves to soft areas of his skin.

In the jungle his concentration was focused on the task in hand. "The biggest adrenaline rush on the trip was undoubtedly hunting for frogs at night," he said.

"That's when the snakes are out hunting as well, and they're after the same thing. Once a pit viper caught a frog moments before I lunged for it."

Mark, who studied Geography at Southampton University after attending Malvern College, is now planning to get a job in the environmental sector.