It can kill these 400 people, but it can also save over 400 people.A serum is prepared from the venom, which may be useful in case of poisonous snake bites.
Australia. Home of poisonous animals
For many years, Australia, despite its reputation for having many poisonous animals (not just snakes, but also spiders, centipedes, etc.) and its reputation as a country where “everything poisonous” is prevalent throughout the world, did not have many deaths due to animal poison. The Australian wilderness and outback made them so. There have been relatively few encounters between humans and venomous animals..
The problem has been getting worse in recent years. Many Australian snakes are increasingly entering areas inhabited by humans, driven by drought and lack of water and food. Meetings became more frequent, and the need to find an antidote became more important..
The Australian Reptile Park near Sydney is currently conducting research into venomous Australian snake species, of which the taipan plays a special role. These are not the most common bite perpetrators in Australia, as many taipans live in the arid deserts and are rarely seen near human settlements. ZMuch less often than, for example, false cobras or mango worms.However, some taipans live in a similar environment to humans, and the Australian taipan is one of them.
The Australian Taipan is found in Australia and New Guinea.123RF/pixel
Which snake is the most venomous? Probably the Taipan.
The debate over which snake is the most venomous in the world is difficult to resolve because it depends on the criteria used. Venoms have different effects, some attack the nervous system and others attack the circulatory system.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists the desert taipan as the record holder.As we can read in the introduction to the book, the taipan hunts dangerous species of local mammals that can harm or even kill it. Thus, these snakes have evolved under selective pressure to produce a very potent venom (and large quantities of it) in order to overpower their prey before it can respond with an attack.
The estimated lethal dose of desert taipan venom for humans is only 1 mg. These snakes are capable of delivering more than 100 mg of venom in a single bite.
The Guinness Book of World Records notes that its related species, the Australian taipan, is less venomous, meaning its venom is less lethal, with 2 mg of venom needed to kill a human. However, this taipan can deliver more venom than the desert taipan.
Research at Reptile Park confirms this perfectly. An Australian taipan named Cyclone delivered 5.2 grams of venom, or more than 500 mg. That’s more than five times the bite of a single desert taipan..
This means that in this individual’s case we are dealing with a dose that could kill 300 people at once. Australians believe the Australian Taipan is underrated, and in fact such a dose of venom would be enough to kill 400 people. Regardless of the theory, it is of course difficult to verify this, but it is indicated by chemical analysis of the venom and its biological effects, for example on small rodents or marsupials.
The distinctive bright head of the Australian TaipanBernard Dupont Wikimedia
The record was set during a process of extracting venom from snakes, which is bizarrely called “reptile milking.” Animals housed at the center or caught in the wild donate their venom as honorary donors, and the serum is prepared from them. The hurricane broke previous records.
Australians believe the Australian Taipan is underrated, and in fact such a dose of venom would be enough to kill 400 people.
This specimen of the Australian Taipan is exceptionally large and, according to the park staff, also exceptionally aggressive and unpredictable. It is kept under special supervision. It belongs to a species that can grow up to two and a half meters long. These Taipan have a distinctive brown body and a light-colored head. They are basically unmistakable from other snakes.
It is a very large species, but much smaller than the desert taipan, which can exceed 3 metres in length. The taipan has very long venomous teeth, although the Australian taipan has longer teeth. This species also lives on the eastern and northern coasts of Australia, where the desert taipan does not visit. It is also a resident of New Guinea. It is worth noting that we recently had a third species of taipan living in Western Australia. Initial tests on mice showed that its venom is weaker than that of the desert taipan, but probably more potent than that of the Australian taipan.
Australia records 3,000 cases each year. Bites. 500 people need treatment each year, and an average of two of them die each year.
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