Missing Perth man Reg Foggerdy survived in desert for six days by eating ants

Bushman is being treated in Western Australian hospital after being found by police who followed his footprints for 15km

Perth man Reg Foggerdy has been found alive after six days lost in the desert in central Western Australia.

The 62-year-old was found by police about 6am on Tuesday and has been flown to Kalgoorlie hospital for treatment. The ABC reported police search teams found Foggerdy after following a fresh trail of footprints, which were discovered on Monday, for 15km.

Kalgoorlie police Superintendent Andy Greatwood told ABC radio that Foggerdy had “no water whatsoever for six days” and was “extremely dehydrated [and a] bit delusional” when he was first found, but was able to talk after receiving first aid.

“The amazing news is his last couple of days of survival were achieved by lying down under a tree and eating black ants, so that’s the level of survival that Mr Foggerdy has gone to,” Greatwood said.

Foggerdy had been missing since Wednesday when he left Shooter’s Shack campsite on the edge of the Great Victoria Desert, 1,120km east of Perth. He was armed with a rifle and planned to hunt the feral camels that roam the Australian interior. He left wearing shorts, a T-shirt, thongs and a baseball cap. Police believe he was not carrying food or water.

When he had not returned by Thursday morning, his brother Ray drove 170km to Laverton, the nearest town, to get enough mobile reception to report him missing to police.

Foggerdy, who has been described by his family as an experienced bushman, appears to have shot and killed a camel a short distance from the camp. The carcass was the central point of the police-coordinated land and aerial search.

Bob Cooper, an outback survival expert who has written a book on the topic, told Guardian Australia that the combination of dehydration, which impairs brain function, and the panic of being lost was “probably the worst thing you can put people through”.

“Fear turns a mishap into a tragedy,” Cooper said. “Just because your car won’t start, that isn’t a tragedy, particularly when it has probably got most of what you need in it. But people panic and start walking.”

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