016 Face the most venomous snake on its own turf

Deep in the Australian outback lives a creature with the power to kill 100 grown men in one go: the Inland Taipan. It generates, drop for drop, the most toxic venom of all snakes and can kill an adult human in under 45min.

Deep in the Australian outback lives a creature with the power to kill 100 grown men in one go: the Inland Taipan. It generates, drop for drop, the most toxic venom of all snakes and can kill an adult human in under 45min.

For perspective, the Eastern Diamondback, cause of the most US snakebite deaths, has venom 700 times less lethal than our Inland Taipan. Luckily for us it’s a shy and passive type, preferring to flee than pick a fight, and thanks to successful treatment with antivenom, it’s not known to have caused any recorded deaths at all.

If you want to see this slithering record-holder in its brittle habitat, you’re crazy as a loon. It’s safer to visit Australian Reptile Park or Australia Zoo where you can stay safely on the other side of the glass.

Where // Central Australia and the convergence of the SA, NT and Qld borders. www.reptilepark.com.au or www.australiazoo.com.au

Did you know? // Australia is the only place in the world where its venomous snake species outnumber that of its non-venomous species.