Australian Reptile Park Celebrate Record Snake Venom Yield

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: March 17, 2021 11:00 pm

Cyclone the Coastal Taipan is ‘milked’ for venom at the Australian Reptile Park

Photo Credit: Australian Reptile Park

Cyclone the Coastal Taipan, a resident of the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales has dethroned Whiplash another snake at the park to deliver the highest venom yield from a single ‘milking.’

The Australian Reptile Park is the only facility in Australia which milks terrestrial snakes and funnel web spiders to produce antivenom. This program has helped to save up to 50,000 lives since the introduction of the program.

Keeper, Zac Bower ‘milks’ a coastal taipan at the Australian Reptile Park

Photo Credit: Australian Reptile Park

Venom supervisor, Zac Bower was very surprised when he saw that Cyclone had produced a massive 4.54g of venom which is a new world record. The previous record set by Whiplash was 3.32g with both being well above the average yield of 1.8g.

Zac Bower, Venom Supervisor said, “I knew immediately the vial of venom felt much heavier than usual. A small, excited part of me thought we might have broken the record slightly, but not to the extent that we did!”

Zac continued, “I would like to say I’m shocked Cyclone has managed to break Whiplash’s undefeated record, but he just keeps giving us more and more venom each time. He is the most amazing snake I’ve ever worked with and keeps me on my toes! But it’s worth it knowing he is saving so many lives!”

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At the Australian Reptile Park five groups of snakes are milked including Taipans, Brown Snakes, Tiger Snakes, Death Adders and Black Snakes. These provide the antivenom which is provided to an average of 300 people each year.

Venom milked at the Australian Reptile Park is sent to Seqirus in Melbourne where it can be turned in to antivenom and then distributed to hospitals across the country.

A vial of taipan antivenom and fresh venom at the Australian Reptile Park

Photo Credit: Australian Reptile Park

At the Australian Reptile Park visitors are able to view a range of venomous snakes including the coastal taipan in the Lost World of Reptiles exhibit. You can also take a behind the scenes tour to view the snake milking process.

Learn more about Coastal Taipans here – Coastal Taipan Fact File | The Animal Facts

Learn more about the Australian Reptile Park on their website – Australian Reptile Park

Keeper, Zac Bower ‘milks’ a coastal taipan at the Australian Reptile Park

Photo Credit: Australian Reptile Park