A taipan named Cyclone has stunned Australian Reptile Park keepers after breaking the record for the largest venom yield, an amount that would be enough to kill 400 humans.
While the park is renowned for its deadly and dangerous venom program where keepers risk their lives daily for the sake of saving thousands of lives across the country, operations manager Billy Collett, was quite surprised to have found Cyclone had broken a huge record, previously held by a taipan named Whiplash.
Cyclone had broken the world record for extracting the most raw venom from a single yield recorded by the infamous Coastal Taipan.
The previous amount recorded was 4.9 grams and Cyclone produced a massive 5.2 grams, three times the average yield for a Coastal Taipan which is 1.8 grams.
“Cyclone 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,” Collett said.
“Especially as we all know what he is capable of with his continuously large venom yields.”
Collett 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 not the most venomous snake in the world, but they are known worldwide for their aggression and bites have caused fatalities every year,” he said.
“We are the only facility in Australia that milks taipans for the production of antivenom so Cyclone’s record-breaking contribution will go towards saving someone’s life.”
The Australian Reptile Park houses more than 250 of the world’s most venomous snakes, which are milked fortnightly as part of Australia’s only venom program 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.
Every year there are 2,000 reported snake bites in Australia, with more than 300 receiving antivenom and having their lives saved by the program.
“The process of milking a venomous snake requires keepers to secure the three-metre-long deadly snake, sink its fangs into a large shot glass covered with plastic and get it to deliver its lethal bite,” Collett said.
“The venom is then freeze dried to remove all moisture and delivered to CSL Seqirus in Melbourne to produce the antivenom.”
Taipans are essential within Australia’s ecosystem, as are all venomous snakes, as they keep other animals like rodents, amphibians, and smaller reptile species in check and maintaining balance.
Since the 1950s, the Australian Reptile Park has been the sole suppliers of terrestrial snake venom for the purpose of making antivenom.
In early 2023, the Australian Reptile Park commenced construction on a new state-of-the-art venom milking facility that visitors will be able to walk through and witness the lifesaving work first-hand.
The NSW Government committed $300,000 to the project with ground works well and truly underway and the project due for completion by the end of 2024.