Taipan die gefährlichste Schlange der Welt (360° - GEO Reportage)

The vastness of the Australian Outback is home to countless venomous animals such as snakes and spiders – many of them among the most venomous animals in existence. Take the taipan, for example. It is considered the most dangerous snake in the world: the amount of venom in a single bite could kill up to 100 people. On the other hand, the venom can save lives when used as medicine. And if there is someone who dares to capture this extremely dangerous animal, Professor Bryan Grieg Fry is one of the few who takes on this life-threatening task. For his research, he travels the country for months to capture taipans. 360° - GEO Reportage accompanied him. A film by Virginie Guiton-Agneray © 2010, Licensed by MedienKontor / ARTE Season 12 - Episode 5 Subscribe to wocomoTRAVEL: https://goo.gl/tIk2Qc Follow us on Facebook:   / wocomo   Press Release: Snake, or "snake," is what his friends call him – a name 18-year-old Ryan Cole will likely keep forever. He is one of the few people to have survived a taipan bite. The fact that there is now an antidote for the bite of this dangerous snake is thanks to men like Bryan Fry, who have made it their mission to collect and study the venom. The professor from Melbourne regularly roams the Australian outback to catch the shy but agile reptiles. Even with the antiserum, a bite could have devastating consequences. The venom of the taipan is many times more potent than that of a cobra. It's no wonder, then, that the sight of this snake sends blood running cold in many Australians' veins. This is especially true when the taipan, like many other snakes, visits human settlements during the rainy season. This is a lucrative business for snake catcher Kristopher Foster. He goes out up to five times a day to rescue stray taipans, brown snakes, or even harmless carpet pythons from homes. What drives people like Foster or Fry to voluntarily expose themselves to such danger? Bryan Fry has already lost three of his friends to snakebites and suffered the agonizing consequences of a poisonous water snake bite for nine months himself. Nevertheless, he has developed a passion for these animals and made hunting them his profession. As a biologist and chemist, he is researching the beneficial properties of snake venom. When isolated, its components can be used to treat seriously injured patients. They can rebuild damaged nerves and combat heart problems. Does this benefit outweigh the danger Bryan exposes himself to every day? With Bryan's help, will the taipan, this feared killer, become a life-saving animal for medical research in the future?