The keepers found a gabon viper in the bonobo forest! Gabon vipers are the dragons of sub-Saharan Africa. Two horns perch between the nose, and beneath the pale eyes are two geometric brown stripes, flowing outwards like river deltas. They have the longest fangs and spew the most venom of any poisonous snake.
If these fangs find you, the initial symptoms are intense pain and blistering around the bite. Your tongue and eyelids swell, you go into convulsions, you may defecate or urinate uncontrollably before you lose consciousness. You start to haemorrhage in your lungs, intestine, and urinary tract. Eventually, the venom erodes the muscles around the heart and you die of a heart attack.
Can you believe it?? brian says he’s sad because he likes snakes but personally i’m glad it’s dead. don’t want to mess around with even the chance it would find me, or the bonobos!
Donations made here are
Mar 17th Maciej G USD 15.00
6 Comments
So the snake was already dead when the keepers found it? Horrible way to die!
I meant horrible way to die when bitten by one of these snakes.
Nasty looking snake……I know they have to be good for something but I not when they can hurt innocent people or other animals……..yukie!!!!!!!!
Nasty looking snake……I know they have to be good for something but not when they can hurt innocent people or other animals……..yukie!!!!!!!!
Could the snake have killed the baby found in the forest — or others and not the flu or drowning?????????
That’s a stunningly beautiful snake, and a pity it had to die but unless you know how to handle it, it poses an unacceptable risk to everyone and the poor bonobos. Vanesssa, Claudine and everyone at Lola, we are still trying to raise the funds you need to respond to the epidemic. Please keep up your appeal on every single post here.