The island near Sao Paulo in Brazil is home
to 4,000 golden lancehead snakes - among the most venomous in the world
This is the so-called 'Snake Island' where
thousands of serpents filled with flesh-melting venom roam free.
Located off the southeastern coast of Brazil near Sao Paulo, Ilha da Queimada Grande - or Snake Island
as it is affectionately known - is home to around 4,000 slithering reptiles.
These are no harmless grass snakes, however.
The island its known for its large population
of golden lanceheads, a critically endangered species considered one of the
world's most deadly.
With venom potent enough to kill large birds
and the ability to pluck them straight out of the air, the golden lanceheads
are formidable predators.
Fortunately, the snakes only live in an area
uninhabited by humans, meaning there has never been an official report of
anyone being bitten.
Authorities allow only a small handful of
scientists to visit each year, but 9 News reporter Tara Brown was given
unprecedented access for 60 Minutes and was
accompanied by a medical team on the island.
Speaking to news.com.au she said:
"When we're speaking to local fisherman, they told us, 'That's not a good
idea, you don't want to go there’.
"There are legends about a whole family
being killed there, and of pirates burying treasure on the island and the
snakes being put there to protect the treasure.
"The fishermen said they never went
there, or they would die."
The snakes are five times more deadly than
their mainland cousins.
One bite from them can kill a human in an
hour, with effects including swelling, vomiting, blood blisters, bruising,
intestinal bleeding, kidney failure and hemorrhage in the brain.
The lanceheads have hemotoxic venom, which
eats away at the flesh and tissue of prey so they are easier to eat.
Brown explained: "They're different to
their mainland cousins in that they're five times more venomous and they are
among the top 10 most poisonous snakes in the world.
"They hunt and eat birds. Not the local
birds, who have become too smart for them, but larger migratory birds, boobies,
who come by on their migration.
"And the snakes' venom has become more
potent because their prey is bigger.
"It's an incredibly interesting
evolutionary experiment for scientists to observe. This is a laboratory in the
wild, if you like. You see evolution at play."
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