What snake is the most dangerous in africa. and why is it that dangerous?

I'd submit the Black Mamba - venom toxicity, general temperament, proximity to people, and they're fairly common.

Other candidates would be the Egyptian Cobra and the various sub-species of Saw-scaled Vipers for many of the same reasons.

Maybe have to think outside the box here, just like the question on what animal kills the most people in africa is the Mosquito the snake that kills most people might be the one carrying the AIDS virus!?!?!?

Puff adder and its sub species. Because of its life style and widespread habitat more people step on the adder accidentally, and it kills more people throughout southern Africa, than all the others combined. Or so I have read.

The danger comes in the numbers, just as with the mosquito.

From The Voice, Francistown, Botwana 26 February 2008

BLACK MAMBA BITE ON FINGER FATAL


A Molepolole man learnt the hard way why the black mamba is widely considered
the world's deadliest snake.

Moagi Moporofiti Masilo, 42, died before reaching hospital minutes after the
two-meter reptile bit him on the finger.

His companion, Tirelo Kootshotse, told how they had seen the deadly snake
basking on top of a stone.

"We started throwing stones and sticks at it, but it stood unmoved.
Eventually, it slithered into the bush, and I told him to leave it alone."

Masilo ignored his friend's advice, removing rocks to see if the injured
snake was underneath.

"Even his wife tried to call him off, but he continued, joking that if he
died she would get to eat pounded meat at his funeral."

They then spotted the snake coiled on a branch and Masilo continued his
attack, throwing big stones at it until one cut it in two.

"With its remaining body the snake slithered under a heavy rock. Moagi lifted
the rock and was bitten on his finger.

He just laughed it off, then a couple of minutes later he told us that the
pain was spreading along his right hand.

He then started vomiting a greenish substance and told me he had a strong
urge to spit out saliva, but couldn't as there seemed to be something blocking
his throat.

He was gasping for breath and covered with sweat. Minutes later he clenched
his teeth and died before we could get him to hospital."

The deceased's family are still battling to come to terms with their son's
passing and suggested his untimely demise could have been caused by evil spells.

Scottish Livingstone Hospital Chief Medical Officer, Dr. James Orenga,
confirmed the cause of death.

"Victims of these kinds of snake bites need to receive treatment within 15-20
minutes to stand a chance of survival," he said. The deceased will be buried
this Saturday.

BLACK MAMBA FACTS

Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened,
highly aggressive.

They live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa and
are the region's longest venomous snake, reaching up to 4.5 meters in length,
although 2.5 meters is more the average.

They are also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of
up to 20 kilometers per hour.

They get their name not from their skin colour, which tends to be olive to
gray, but rather from the blue-black colour of the inside of their mouth, which
they display when threatened.

Black mambas are shy and will almost always seek to escape when confronted.

However, when cornered, these snakes will raise their heads, sometimes with a
third of their body off the ground, spread their cobra-like neck-flap, open
their black mouths and hiss.

If an attacker persists, the mamba will strike not once, but repeatedly,
injecting large amounts of potent neuro-and cardio toxins with each strike.

Hi James, the most dangerous snake to me, is the snake which is most likely to bite you, and that would probably be the puff-adder (Bitis arietans). They are supposed to be responsible for around 70% of bad bites in Southern Africa. You stand a much better chance of surviving a puff adder rather than with a mamba bite (which are actually very rare), however the pain is apparently really bad and you may have permanent stiffness in your foot/hand and if you are really unlucky may even lose a limb! The gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) is even more venomous, but there are very few recorded bites and they are generally better tempered snakes and usually only found in thick forest and are virtually invisible.

I believe the saw-scaled viper from North Africa, is pretty venomous too, not sure how it rates with black mamba, or Cape cobra venom, but the action of the venom is also very different, it's best not to play with any of them!

quote:

Originally posted by cchunter:


Maybe have to think outside the box here, just like the question on what animal kills the most people in africa is the Mosquito the snake that kills most people might be the one carrying the AIDS virus!?!?!?

sorry to disillusion you, but no snakes in Africa carry the AIDS virus. snakes are cold-blooded and are not carriers of mammalian viruses( different body temperature requirements).of course if you are referring to the ubiquituos black African trouser serpent, your statement is entirely correct.

Most venmous -
Toss up between Boomslang and Bird-Snake (both haemotoxic). Very toxic venom but not fast acting, both very shy and typically mild mannered snakes, chance of bite is extremely rare, but none-the-less, the most toxic.

Most dangerous - Puffadder. This rationale based on the bite rates...if you are accidentally bitten by a deadly venemous snake in most of Southern and East africa, its likley a puffadder.

Despite the all the wives-tales and knotted panties about the legendary and super-natural black mamba its not the most toxic nor repsonsible for the most dangrous bites...dangerous of course but usually blown out of proportion by virtue of the outrageous stories one hears about them.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by cchunter:


Maybe have to think outside the box here, just like the question on what animal kills the most people in africa is the Mosquito the snake that kills most people might be the one carrying the AIDS virus!?!?!?

sorry to disillusion you, but no snakes in Africa carry the AIDS virus. snakes are cold-blooded and are not carriers of mammalian viruses( different body temperature requirements).of course if you are referring to the ubiquituos black African trouser serpent, your statement is entirely correct.

I think the reference was to the dreaded one-eyed trouser snake.

Most of the snakes in Africe do not raise fears in me, but the puffadder, that is a different story. What makes them so dangerous?. Most snakes will move away when they hear you, if you treaten them, yes they will attack. Puffadders got the nasty habit of basking in the sun and it often happens when you tread over a tree truck or a big rock that there is a puffader on the other side.Good advise is to always get on top of the tree trunk or rock and first look if their is a puffadder on the other side. they are always on the sunny side early in the morning. Most snakes hibernate in winter, that is why you seldom see them when you are hunting.

Snakes camoflage themselves very well, I was hunting about 3 weeks ago when I almost stepped on a python, if I did put my foot down I would have treaded on his head. I was just lucky to see it in the tall grass. It also had a full belly, which might have added to my luck.

A few days ago I watched a show where this guy was taking pictures of the deadliest snakes in Africa. He gave them all rankings based on venom, speed, and strike. I think he was even bite by one of them!

His name is Austin Stevens. The show was on Animal Planet.

It was really good because it showed close-ups on everything from the Black and Green Mamba to the puff-adder, the horned adder, some kind of forest snake (an African Gaboon I think) and some kind of green tree snake... all poisonous!

James, hi boet! Kayaker is right in the boomslang and vine snake being the most venomous, they certainly are gram for gram. They are, very shy snakes and will always flee, and if not as a last resort will let their intentions be known by inflating their necks, hissing and generally that should be enough for anyone to decide against messing with them. They are back-fanged, and this is said to be one reason why a large proportion of their bites have been 'dry' or ineffective, but I believe it is more due to the snake's temperament to scare rather than envenomate, as they have quite long fangs and can open their jaws pretty wide and give you a good bite first time round if they really feel like it. From what I know, the only bites recorded have been from snake catchers or handlers, so go figure! The venom is hectically haemotoxic, and you basically end up bleeding, bruising and blistering all over after 12 hrs or so from a good bite, and things go down-hill pretty fast from there on with un-treated bites. I think most of the recorded deaths have only occurred around 3 days after the bite, so the venom is not fast acting, but very bad and nasty just the same. I know that there is an effective antivenom in Jo-Berg at the South African Institute for Medical Research, (SAIMR) and you should have plenty of time to be treated in time if one acted promptly.

The neurotoxic Elapids, cobras, mambas, garter snakes, etc all have very fast acting venom that attacks the respiratory system, and can kill you faster than cytotoxic adder/viper venom or the haemotoxic venoms. I think the quantity of venom delivered is also very important. For example, the black mamba has a highly toxic venom, and it delivers it in very large quantities and usually in areas close to the heart (head, neck, arms, and torso), potentially with multiple bites, which makes it so dangerous, especially if it enters the venous system directly (given the fact that a good single-bite probably easily contains enough venom to kill maybe 6-10 people!). The gaboon viper has very potent viperine venom and injects it really deep into the tissues, and shock can occur pretty quickly due to the sheer volume and nature of the venom. So, hard to say which is the most dangerous and lethal, but I would still put the old puffie at the top of the list, based on the fact that I have stood on one before (and was very lucky not to be bitten), and I always scan the ground for snakes when I walk through the bush!

I've seen damn few snakes in Africa with the most seen in Tanzania. I have to admit that there's somthing about the black mambas that get's my utmost attention! Fortunately we only had one "episode" with a mamba and a shotgun took care of him.