Can You Visit Snake Island, Brazil

Snake Island, Brazil

Snake Island, Brazil

Ilha da Queimada Grande, also known as Snake Island, is an island off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean. It is administered as part of the municipality of Itanhaem in the State of Sao Paulo. The island is small in size, only 43 hectares ( 106 acres ), and has a temperate climate. The island's terrain varies considerably, ranging from bare rock to rainforest. It is the only home of the critically endangered venomous Bothrops insularis ( golden lancehead pit viper ), which has diet of birds. The snakes became trapped on the island when rising sea levels covered up the land that connected it to the mainland. The ensuing selection pressure allowed the sankes to adapt to their new environment, increasing rapidly in population and rendering the island dangerous to public visitation. Queimada Grande is closed to the public in order to protect both people and the snake population; access is only available to the Brazilian Navy and selected researchers vetted by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, the Brazilian federal conservation unit.

OFF THE SHORE OF BRAZIL, almost 93 miles away from downtown Sao Paulo. The island is untouched by human developers for a very good reason. Researchers estimate that on the island live between one and five sankes live on the many migratory birds that use the island as a resting point.

" Between one and five snakes per square meter " might not be so terrible if the snakes were, say, two inches long and nonvenomous. The snakes on Queimada Grande, however, are a unique species of pit viper, the golden lancehead. The lancehead genus of snakes is responsible for 90 percent of Brazilian snakebite - related fatalities. The golden lancehead Thay occupy Snake Island grow to well over half a meter long, and they possess a powerful fast - acting venom that melts the flesh around their bites.

The potent venom of this species evolved due to the need for the snake to quickly incapacitated and Kill seabirds the land on the island's tress before they are able to fly away. On an island ecosystem occupied by hundreds of competitors, the deadly venom of the golden lancehead maximizes its potential to feed and survive. Golden lancehead are so dangerous that, with the exception of some scientific outfits, the Brazilian Navy has expressly forbidden anyone from landing on the island.

Snake Island, Brazil

Locals in the coastal towns near Queimada Grande love to recount two grisly tales of death on Snake Island. In one, a fishermen unwittingly wanders onto the island to pick bananas. Naturally, he is bitten. He manages to return to his boat, where he promptly succumbs to the snake's venom. He is found sometime later on the boat deck in a great pool of blood.

The other story is of the final lighthouse operator and his family. One night, a handful of snakes enter through a window and attack the man, his wife, and their three children. In a desperate Gambit to escape, they flee towards their boat, but they are bitten by snakes on branches overhead.

Know before you go

Presently, reaching the island legally requires the cooperation of the Brazilian Navy. A particularly daring tourist could hypothetically travel to Peruibe or Itanhaem approx. 1.5 - 2.5 hours from downtown Sao Paulo and convince a local with a boat to approach the island, but doing so is dangerous and illegal.

A safer bet is to try to see snakes in mainland Brazil, in captivity. To do this you have three options: Golden lanceheads can legally be seen at the Butanta Institute in Sao Paulo in the Serpentarium if one asks politely. Alternatively, you could head to the Sao Paulo zoo where in the snake house you will find as enclosure that contains five adult lanceheads. Your final option is to head to the Zoologico Municipal Quinzinho de Barros in Sorocaba City, state of Sao Paulo, where you can see a very special goldne lancehead snake that lives happily in the repltile house.