[www.keralites.net] Forbidden snake island of Brazil!

 

Beware snake island! Forbidden rock off the coast of Brazil is home to world's deadliest serpent - and its venom MELTS human flesh By Jonathan O'Callaghan An island off the coast of Sao Paolo is home to the golden lancehead viper It is the only place the so-called 'world's deadliest snake' is known to live Their venom is potent enough to kill people and melt human flesh Access to Ilha de Queimada Grande is banned by the Brazilian government In the past humans have been killed by its deadly inhabitants Fancy a trip to an island swarming with 4,000 of the world's deadliest snakes that pluck birds out of the sky and kill them with a venom that can melt human flesh? That's what awaits you if you travel to Ilha de Queimada Grande 20 miles (32 km) off the coast of Sao Paolo, Brazil, which is home to the golden lancehead viper. In fact, the island is deemed so dangerous that visiting it was been banned by the Brazilian government - although not before numerous people foolishly ventured there in the past. Pictured is Ilha da Queimada Grande, an island 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Sao Paolo in Brazil. Visitors to the island are prohibited by the Brazilian government owing to the several thousand resident deadly snakes known as golden lancehead vipers, which have venom that is potent enough to melt human flesh Ilha de Queimada Grande, understandably nicknamed 'Snake Island', is a piece of land 4.6 million square feet (430,000 square metres) in size. THE GOLDEN LANCEHEAD VIPER Ilha de Queimada Granda is the only place in the world where Bothrops insularis, also known as the golden lancehead viper, can be found. It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. The species has a light yellowish brown colour on its underside. It grows to an average length of 28 inches (70 centimetres) but can reach a maximum of 46 inches (118 centimetres). The 'lanchehead' in its name refers to its pointed head, distinctive of snakes in the genus Bothrops. Lancehead snakes in general are responsible for the most human deaths in North and South America. This particular snake has a mortality rate of 7 per cent without treatment, and up to 3 percent still even with treatment. Its venom can eat flesh and tissue, making prey easier to swallow, while a neurotoxin kills the prey. Its diet consists mostly of birds, although it has been reported to eat lizards and even cannibalise on other snakes. It's the only place on Earth where Bothrops insularis, also known as the golden lancehead viper, is known to inhabit. That's probably a good thing, though, as the reptile is regarded as the world's most venomous viper. The island is devoid of almost any human visitors, save for a few scientists granted permission to study the snakes each year, reports the Smithsonian. It is also visited on occasion by the Brazilian navy, who tend to the autonomous lighthouse that was built back in 1909 before scampering clear. And it's also thought that poachers have been known to visit the island and claim a golden lancehead viper for their own, with their price fetching as high as £17,500 ($30,000) on the black market. The reason the viper has become so deadly is somewhat of a mystery, though. After all, they are not too dissimilar to their brethren on the mainland. The predominant theory is that 11,000 years ago sea levels rose and separated the island from Brazil, which left the snakes on the island with limited sources of food save for migrating birds. The golden lancehead viper (Bothrops insularis), pictured, is only found on this one island. Here University of Sao Paulo researcher Marcio Martins holds one snake while watching another. The snakes have been known to kill humans in the past, including a hapless fisherman who stumbled across the island Ilha de Queimada Grande, understandably nicknamed 'Snake Island', is a piece of land 4.6 million square feet (430,000 square metres) in size found 20 miles (32 kilometres) off the coast of Sao Paolo, Brazil The problem was, though, that most venoms take a while to act - sometimes as much as a few days. By the time the snake's venom killed the birds they would have moved elsewhere, so instead the snakes evolved an incredibly strong venom that can kill prey almost instantly. It is five times more potent than other snakes and can even melt human flesh. In humans, the bite from a golden lancehead viper carried a seven per cent chance of death. And before the island was deemed off-limits there were several stories of people succumbing to the deadly predators. One story tells of a fisherman who lost power in the engines of his boat. After drifting to the island he ventured inland, unaware of the terrors that lay in wait. When his boat was eventually discovered, he was found dead in a pool of blood covered in snake bites. Another story is of the last lighthouse keeper to inhabit the island with his family. Rumour has it they ran in terror when snakes crawled in through their windows; their bodies were later found scattered across the island. The island is believed to have become separated from the Brazilian mainland 11,000 years ago when sea levels rose, which forced the native snakes to evolve their potent venom in order to catch airborne prey. The island is devoid of almost any human visitors, save for a few scientists, poachers and the navy on occasion The name of the island itself tells of its troubled history. Ilha de Queimada Grande roughly translates as 'the island of the slash-and-burn fire', so-called because of a failed attempt to develop a banana plantation on it. However, in the last 15 years the population of snakes on the island as reduced by as much as 15 per cent, due to a combination of vegetation removal and disease. And on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List the snakes are currently listed as critically endangered. With thousands of snakes remaining, however, it's probably still not the ideal holiday destination.

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Posted by: Abdul Matin Sheikh <abdulmatinsheikh@yahoo.com>

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