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A VIETNAMESE man has opened up on how he managed to live off huge rats after fleeing the horrors Vietnam War to become a real life Tarzan.

In an extraordinary video Ho Van Lang, 44, shows how he captured and gorged on rats in a bid to survive while taking sanctuary in the deep forest in the Tay Tra district of Quang Ngai province.

 Ho Van Lang developed a taste for rodents as he struggled to survive in the jungle
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Ho Van Lang developed a taste for rodents as he struggled to survive in the jungleCredit: DOCASTAWAY

Along with dad Ho Van Thanh, 85, a South Vietnamese Army veteran, he fled as a boy from his small village in 1971.

This came after a US bomb killed his mum and two other siblings.

The province was a Viet Cong stronghold and was the scene of fierce jungle battles as the US military attempted to flush out the communist insurgents.

From then on they hid from all human contact fearing they would be killed in the crossfire.

Like Tarzan they lived in tree houses and dressed in loincloths fashioned out of tree bark.

 A map showing where he hid out as huge battles raged around him
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A map showing where he hid out as huge battles raged around him
 He is then filmed brandishing a giant rat after trapping it
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He is then filmed brandishing a giant rat after trapping itCredit: GOCASTAWAY
 After being whacked against the rock the rat is ready to cook
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After being whacked against the rock the rat is ready to cook

They were discovered by locals in 2013. Since then they have slowly been adapting to civilisation  – they now live in a house near the jungle.

More recently Alvaro Cerezo, managing director of Docastaway – which offers holidays to remote, uninhabited parts of the world – met with Lang.

He had wanted to ask him about survival techniques, but they ended up spending five days together living in the jungle where he had grown up.

 What a feast... He then gorges on the roasted beast, enjoying its simple rodent taste
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What a feast... He then gorges on the roasted beast, enjoying its simple rodent tasteCredit: GOCASTAWAY
 US Marines walk away from blown up bunkers and tunnels used by the Viet Cong
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US Marines walk away from blown up bunkers and tunnels used by the Viet CongCredit: Alamy
 US soldiers and marines burn down jungle villages if they suspected they were harbouring the Viet Cong insurgents
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US soldiers and marines burn down jungle villages if they suspected they were harbouring the Viet Cong insurgentsCredit: Getty - Contributor

“This 'Mowgli' was completely ignorant of how the outside, civilised world was with the exception of the stories his father told him about the aeroplanes that crossed the sky,” Alvaro said.

A video was then filmed which includes a scene where he brutally kills a huge rat before cooking it and then munching on its flesh.


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