Rescuers pulled a highly venomous Black Mamba from the ocean, risking their lives to save it and protect beach-goers in the area.
Durban, South Africa (28 August 2020) – The Black Mamba is highly venomous and one of South Africa’s most feared snakes. Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive. According to National Geographic, they are widely considered as the world’s most deadly snake. So sharing a wave with one isn’t an ideal situation.
They usually live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa. You might ask yourself, well, why is there one living on Addington Beach? The answer is probably rats…
This week the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) received a call that a Black Mamba was catching waves and needed to be rescued. They risked their lives to ensure the snake was safely captured and removed from the public space. Thankfully, the rescue went smoothly and the snake was taken to uShaka Sea World.
“The snake was so exhausted that when we approached her she hardly even noticed us. She was so easy to handle and thankfully remained calm whilst we transported her back to Ushaka Sea World where our resident veterinarian, Dr Francois Lampen was standing by to assess her condition.” – SAAMBR herpetologists Craig Smith
They discovered the snake was a she and although a little stressed, in very good health. Since the rescue on Tuesday, the SAAMBR shared an update on their Facebook page.
“This afternoon the SAAMBR Animal Health team did a full clinical examination of the Black mamba which was rescued from Addington Beach on Tuesday.
On admission to uShaka Sea World her initial brief examination showed that she was stressed but otherwise in good condition. She was treated with antibiotics and left to stabilise before undergoing today’s examination.
“We collected bloods for diagnostic purposes, and did radiographs (x-rays) of her whole body. This is a standard approach as it would indicate if there were any reasons to be concerned. Thankfully, today’s blood results do not indicate that there is an infection present, and we were not able to detect any further abnormalities on the x-rays” said SAAMBR Veterinarian, Dr Francois Lampen.
We are delighted to report that her behaviour is normal- she is reacting as expected and it is most likely that she will be strong enough within a couple of days to be considered for release.
Whilst she is in the care of SAAMBR staff she is being kept in isolation so as to ensure that she does not acquire any diseases that may pose a risk to the indigenous snakes once she is reintroduced into her natural home range.”
Take a look at the video of her rescue below.
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