The Australian Reptile Park’s record breaking Taipan venom milking yield
One of the world’s deadliest snakes has been busy at The Australian Reptile Park, breaking his own milking record with enough venom to kill 100 humans.
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It’s enough venom to kill more than 100 humans.
A taipan named Whiplash at The Australian Reptile Park has amazed keepers, breaking the record for the largest venom milking yield for the deadly species.
This is the second time Whiplash has broken the record for extracting the most raw venom, previously recording 3.1 grams.
This time around, he recorded 3.32 grams in one milking to overtake his personal best.
“Whiplash is one of our most dangerous snakes here at the park and is known for being quite unpredictable and keeping us all on our toes,” the park’s operations manager Scott Ryan said.
“Especially as we all know what he is capable of with his continuously large venom yields. The average yield for The Australian Reptile Park’s Taipan milking program is 1.8 grams per milking.”
The park’s venom supervisor Zac Bower said the park’s venom keepers had one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, requiring confidence, nerves of steel and a lot of experience.
“Coastal Taipans are one of the most venomous snakes in the world, ranking number three on the list,” he said.
“They are known worldwide for their aggression and bites have caused fatalities every year. We are the only facility in Australia that milks taipans for the production of antivenom so Whiplash’s record-breaking contribution will go towards saving someone’s life.
“The process of milking a venomous snake requires keepers to secure the 3-metre long deadly snake, sink its fangs into a large shot glass covered with plastic and get it to deliver its lethal bite. The venom is then freeze-dried to remove all moisture and delivered to Seqiris in Melbourne to produce the antivenom.”
The Australian Reptile Park houses over 250 of the world’s most venomous snakes, which are milked fortnightly as part of Australia’s only venom program that is responsible for the production of antivenom.
The program extracts venom from five groups of Australia’s deadliest snakes including Taipans, Brown Snakes, Tiger Snakes, Death Adders and Black Snakes.