This place is exactly what the name suggests - Just 33 kilometres off the coast of Brazil near Sao Paulo, Snake Island is so dangerous, humans are forbidden from going there. Few would dare anyway.
It’s teeming with snakes. Not just any snakes: Golden lancehead vipers. These are the most venomous vipers in the world, with venom so potent it could melt flesh.
Up to 4000 of the small but deadly creatures slither around the island, which humans fled a century ago, and when they are hungry, the snakes pluck birds out the sky to feast on.
Brazilian authorities give permission to only a few scientists to visit each year. Navy patrols make sure no other humans get close.
The 60 Minutes journalist and her team were the first Australian media allowed onto the island. Tara Brown 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.'
Bryan Fry, a leading Australian molecular biologist, also warned Brown of the perils of such a trip.
'With these snakes it will be a particularly painful death. You're going to die screaming,' he said, before eventually joining her on the once in a lifetime journey.
With an estimated three-five golden lanceheads per square metre on Snake Island , which is formally named as Ilha da Queimada Grande, are a unique species.
When sea levels rose 11,000 years ago and cut them off from the mainland, they evolved differently.
'They are different to their mainland cousins in that they are five times more venomous and they are among the top 10 most poisonous snakes in the world,' Brown said.
Some wildlife smugglers have been known to visit the island too. They trap the snakes and sell them illegally. A single golden lancehead can be sold for 10,000 USD to 30,000 USD.
Ironically, the feared golden lanceheads also play a crucial lifesaving role for humans.
Golden lancehead venom has also been used in the development of lifesaving medication, and could contribute to new ones in the future.
“There’s a blood pressure medication (captopril) which was developed 40 years ago from the venom of lancehead vipers, which is an incredibly popular and widely used medicine today,” Brown said.
It’s teeming with snakes. Not just any snakes: Golden lancehead vipers. These are the most venomous vipers in the world, with venom so potent it could melt flesh.
Up to 4000 of the small but deadly creatures slither around the island, which humans fled a century ago, and when they are hungry, the snakes pluck birds out the sky to feast on.
Brazilian authorities give permission to only a few scientists to visit each year. Navy patrols make sure no other humans get close.
The 60 Minutes journalist and her team were the first Australian media allowed onto the island. Tara Brown 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.'
Bryan Fry, a leading Australian molecular biologist, also warned Brown of the perils of such a trip.
'With these snakes it will be a particularly painful death. You're going to die screaming,' he said, before eventually joining her on the once in a lifetime journey.
With an estimated three-five golden lanceheads per square metre on Snake Island , which is formally named as Ilha da Queimada Grande, are a unique species.
When sea levels rose 11,000 years ago and cut them off from the mainland, they evolved differently.
'They are different to their mainland cousins in that they are five times more venomous and they are among the top 10 most poisonous snakes in the world,' Brown said.
Some wildlife smugglers have been known to visit the island too. They trap the snakes and sell them illegally. A single golden lancehead can be sold for 10,000 USD to 30,000 USD.
Ironically, the feared golden lanceheads also play a crucial lifesaving role for humans.
Golden lancehead venom has also been used in the development of lifesaving medication, and could contribute to new ones in the future.
“There’s a blood pressure medication (captopril) which was developed 40 years ago from the venom of lancehead vipers, which is an incredibly popular and widely used medicine today,” Brown said.
Music: "Cambodian Odyssey" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: News AU, Daily Mail, The Travel
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