That time Will Smith helped discover new species of anaconda

In 2024, scientists announced the discovery of a new species of giant anaconda in South America. A National Geographic film crew was on hand for the 2022 expedition that documented the new species, as was actor Will Smith, as they were filming for NatGeo’s new documentary series, Pole to Pole with Will Smith. Now we can all share in Smith’s Amazon experience, thanks to the three-minute clip above.

Along with venom expert Bryan Fry, we follow Smith’s journey by boat with a team of indigenous Waorani guides, scouring the river banks for anacondas. And they find one: a female green anaconda measuring about 16 to 17 feet long, “pure muscle.” The Waorani secure the giant snake (anacondas are not venomous but they bite) so that Fry (with Smith’s understandably reluctant help) can collect a sample of scales for further analysis. Fry says this will allow him to determine the buildup of pollutants in the water.

This sample and other samples collected also allowed scientists to conduct the genetic analysis that resulted in the declaration of a new species: the northern green anaconda (Eunectes akayama, which roughly translates to “the great serpent”). It is genetically distinct from the southern green anaconda (Eunectes murinus); the two species probably diverged around 10 million years ago. The territory of the northern green anaconda includes Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, French Guiana and the northern part of Brazil.

Smith’s time in the Amazon also brought the arachnophobic actor face-to-face with a giant tarantula while scientists extracted the venom. His other adventures took him to the South Pole, where he crossed freezing ice fields; in the Himalayas, where he walked to a small village in Bhutan; in the Pacific Islands to record a lost native language; in the Kalahari Desert, where he joined the San hunter-gatherer people on a hunt; and to the North Pole, where he joined an expedition to dive under the ice to collect scientific samples.

Pole to Pole with Will Smith will premiere on January 13, 2026 and will stream on Disney+ the following day.