One of Australia’s deadliest snakes makes a venomous world record

One of Australia’s deadliest snakes has broken a terrifying world record, extracting enough venom to kill 400 people in a single yield. The snake, named Cyclone, is a coastal taipan that lives at the Australian Reptile Park and is part of a deadly and dangerous venom program that helps save lives across Australia. The reptile park is the only facility in the country that milks taipans for the production of anti-venom which goes to people who have been bitten by snakes. About 2000 snake bites are reported every year in Australia with more than 300 people requiring anti-venom to save their lives. Since the 1950s, the park has been the only suppliers of terrestrial snake venom for the purpose of making anti-venom. This process is not for the faint hearted and requires staff at the reptile park to risk their lives daily to handle some of Australia’s deadliest snakes. Staff are required to encourage the snakes to bite on plastic pulled to the same tension of human skin to inject their venom. Australian Reptile Park operations manager Billy Collett said the park’s venom keepers had one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, requiring confidence, nerves of steel and a lot of experience. “Coastal Taipans are not the most venomous snake in the world, but they are known worldwide for their aggression and bites have caused fatalities every year,” he said. The previous highest amount recorded was 4.9 grams, and Cyclone the coastal taipan has produced 5.2 grams, three times the average yield of a coastal taipan. “Cyclone is one of our most dangerous snakes here at the park and is known for being quite unpredictable and keeping us all on our toes,” he said. “Especially as we all know what he is capable of with his continuously large venom yields.” The Australian Reptile Park houses more than 250 of the world’s most venomous snakes, which are milked fortnightly. The park’s venom program extracts venom from five groups of Australia’s deadliest snakes including taipans, brown snakes, tiger snakes, death adders and black snakes. Mr Collett said the process of milking a venomous snake required keepers to secure the three-metre-long deadly snake, sink its fangs into a large shot glass covered with plastic and get it to deliver its lethal bite. “The venom is then freeze dried to remove all moisture and delivered to CSL Seqirus in Melbourne to produce the anti-venom,” he said.