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Forrest Galante has faced off with the world’s scariest animals — but this is the creature he fears the most

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He’s always in beast mode

Forrest Galante travels the planet to discover animals. Me, on the board of the ASPCA for years, I have a dog. I love animals. So is he brave or just nuts?

“Last month a great white shark charged me. My heart jumped into my throat. I screamed, hid behind a rock, then exited the water,” Galante tells me. “Look, I grew up in Zimbabwe. My family ran safari businesses. I worked with animals when I was 6 and never did anything else. I couldn’t name three famous artists, but I know how to track a mountain lion.”

OK, so once as a houseguest out west, I got up at 5 a.m. All glass windows. Standing on the other side — this giant, huge black bear staring at me. I was terrified. He was working the handle to get inside.

Galante tells me: “Bears. If it’s black, fight back. If brown, lie down, if white, say goodnight. Fight a black bear immediately and likely they let you go.”

“My terror is parasites. I travel all over, drink suspicious water, eat whoknowswhat, get bitten by insects and parasites,” he says. “Been knocked down by parasitic infections. Things you can’t see can kill you the most easily.”

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