Reptile Park to press on with snake venom milking facility despite funding loss

The Australian Reptile Park became collateral damage of the Coalition’s shellacking at the federal election. But despite losing $580,000 it will continue with its venom plans. Here’s why.

The Australian Reptile Park was promised more than half a million dollars in funding ahead of the last federal election —expected to go towards its $1.65 million plans to build a state-of-the-art snake venom milking facility.

But when the voting public shed the Coalition like a discarded skin on election day that promise disappeared quicker than a snake oil salesman after an unhonest day’s work.

However the popular Somersby zoo has pledged to push on “full steam ahead” to build its snake milking facility, despite the funding loss.

“We’re going to have to work a bit harder and smarter,” Reptile Park boss Tim Faulkner said.

The zoo has lodged its development application (DA) for the $1.65 million project, which Mr Faulkner said had already received a $300,000 grant from the NSW Government.

The zoo has lodged its DA for the snake milking facility despite losing more than half a million dollars in promised federal funding. Picture: supplied

The Reptile Park had committed $775,000 to the project with a re-elected Coalition promising $580,000 should it have secured another term at the May ballot.

Mr Faulkner said while that money was now “dead in the water” the zoo had to double down and come up with the rest of the fund to ensure the project went ahead.

“We have to,” he said. “For the same reasons we had to anyway, the (existing) facilities are 25 years old and it's a real missed opportunity for our visitors.”

The Australian Reptile Park is the only facility in the country that milks land-based snakes for venom to make into antivenene.

The zoo is the only one to milk snakes to produce antivenene. Picture: Australian Reptile Park

Once the venom is extracted it is freeze dried and then sent off to Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and made into antivenene. It takes hundreds of milkings to produce just one vile of antivenene.

It current facilities are housed within the zoo’s administration and back-of-house building meaning other than visiting dignitaries, the general public never gets to see the lifesaving work the keepers do milking up to 300 snakes a fortnight.

“We’ve been extracting venom from snakes since the 1960s but the current facilities are 25 years old and are very aged and cramped,” Mr Faulkner said.

“If anyone is bitten by a snake in Australia, the antivenene that is produced comes from here.”

Mr Faulkner said new purpose-built facilities, including modern cooling systems along with stand alone milking and processing rooms were critical to delivering the program as well as keeping staff safe and snakes happy.

The Reptile Park has been synonymous with milking snakes since its inception by renown naturalist, the late Eric Worrell. Picture: Bill Rosier

Under the plans the new facility would be built near the alligator lagoon and feature a decorative facade clad in zinc tiles to resemble a huge curled up snake.

In addition to storage rooms, snake enclosures and work spaces the building would feature a public walk away around the outside along with viewing windows and a dedicated viewing room.

The loss of federal funding could not come at a worse time for the zoo, which has emerged after a couple of challenging years during Covid where it was closed for six out of 18 months.

Mr Faulkner said he hoped to gain council approval for the DA in time to “break ground” early next year after the summer school holidays.

A spokesman for the newly elected Robertson Labor MP Dr Gordon Reid, meanwhile, said Labor was not approached by the Reptile Park for funding during the election and subsequently had not made any comparable commitment.