A man in Pakistan’s Punjab province has been surviving on leaves and wood for the last 25 years, a habit that he developed because of extreme poverty.

Mehmood Butt, 50, a poor man from Gujranwala has been eating leaves and branches because he had no work and could not afford basic meal. Surprisingly, he has never fell ill despite eating leaves all these years, The News International reported.

 “There was too much poverty in my family.

Years later, as he found work and could afford to buy meals, he found himself strangely keen on maintaining his unique eating practice. “Eating wood and leaves has become my habit now,” he said.  

Butt earns Rs600 in Pakistani currency a day by transporting things from one place to another on his donkey cart, but his eyes are always on fresh leaves and branches, his neighbours said.

“He will stop his cart on the roadside anytime and will eat fresh tree branches,” his neighbour Ghulam Mohammad said.

Butt is popular in his area for his eating habits as people see him munching leaves but never gets sick.