The snake that can kill 60 humans with one bite
In the depths of the Australian Reptile Park, on NSW’s Central Coast, lies a snake that can “pack a punch” with one bite.
“Shazza”, a common death adder, has smashed records during her latest health check and milking – delivering a venom yield of epic proportions.
When she bit into the vial she produced an impressive 270mg of venom.
“That’s enough to kill over 60 adult men,” operations manager Billy Collett said.
“My previous record for death adder venom extraction was 160mg and as the only place in the world to milk common death adders for their venom, this has got to be a new world record.
“Death adders also have the longest fangs than any other Australian snake so you can imagine that a single bite would definitely pack a punch.”
Shazza also passed her health check with flying colours.
She is 102 centimetres long and weighs a whopping 1.41 kilograms.
“On average, death adders weigh 700g so this incredible animal is almost double the weight,” Collett said.
The Australian Reptile Park is the only facility in the world that milks Australian terrestrial land snakes for the production of antivenom.
Venom is extracted from five groups of venomous snakes; taipans, brown snakes, tiger snakes, death adders and black snakes.
The program is credited with saving hundreds of lives across the country each year.
