Papua New Guinea’s Snake Man
We follow a reptile handler-turned-scientist in his quest to save thousands of people from deadly snakebites.
It’s a fearsome creature cloaked in superstition. The Papuan Taipan kills about 1,000 people in Papua New Guinea each year – more than communicable diseases in some parts of the country.
If bitten, a villager’s only hope of survival is the expensive anti-venom that’s rarely stocked in the isolated clinics. Their life saver is the “snake man” – Australian herpetologist and toxinologist, David Williams.
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Williams’ dangerous work handling the deadly Taipan is paying off – he has developed a cheaper anti-venom.
101 East ventures into dangerous territory with the Snake Man and meets the villagers he is hoping to save from the dreaded Taipan.
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