CALL OF THE WILD

He's faced sharks, crocodiles and jaguars and yet filmmaker Craig Foster says winning an Oscar for My Octopus Teacher was the scariest thing that has ever happened to him. In this inspiring extract from his new book he explains what his encounters with dangerous animals have taught him about overcoming fear

- Craig Foster

SOMETHING round catches my eye. I leave my father's side and dive deeper to get a closer look. The size of a dinner plate, the creature glides slowly across the sandy seafloor, the edges of its fin fluttering delicately as it moves. I want so badly to touch it. I reach out...My regret is instantaneous as electricity floods my body.

More than 40 years later, my first experience with the onefin electric ray sits strongly in my memory. Electric rays can produce 220 volts of electricity - and the shock I'd felt that day was a lot like the experience of sticking a finger in an electric socket.

Years would pass before I'd be able to get close to that animal again. But it didn't stop me from feeling the pull towards other animals known to be dangerous to humans. For as long as I can remember, I've reached towards nature with little thought to the risks. For better or worse, my desire to be close to wildness has always beaten out my fear.

For years I fed that desire not only with daily dives in the Great African Seaforest [the kelp forest off the coast of Cape Town where he filmed My Octopus Teacher] but also with regular visits to the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary, located about four hours from Cape Town.

At the time of my visits, the sanctuary specialised in rescuing and caring for animals that were born in captivity and would not be able to survive in the wild.

Visitors were not allowed to interact with the cats, but after years of me filming their work, the sanctuary's former owners gave me the rare privilege to film in areas where certain animals lived in large enclosures.

Of all the big cats at the sanctuary, none enthralled me more than the jaguar. One afternoon I was led into the sprawling grassy habitat where a female jaguar roamed. What most stood out to me about her were her powerful muscular body and huge golden eyes.