Jellyfish have 60 tentacles. Each tentacle is covered with special stinging cells.

The jellyfish hunts prawns and small fish by stretching out its tentacles. Because its poisonous feelers can stretch up to three metres, it has a long and dangerous reach!

A grownup box jellyfish has enough poison to kill 60 people. There is an antidote but it has to be given immediately.

Unfortunately very few people are saved. Box jellyfish poison burns the skin, affects the nervous system and causes a heart attack. If you're stung it hurts so much it's very difficult to swim to safety.

True or false?

1. The box jellyfish lives in the oceans of Southeast Asia.

2. The box jellyfish is bright red.

3. Box jellyfish poison takes one hour to kill a human.

compare!

The hook-nosed seasnake lives in the oceans of Southern Asia. Its venom is 100 times stronger than the king cobra's but luckily it's very gentle and rarely bites

Poison arrow frogs

Find antonyms (words that mean the opposite) to:

ugly, short, healthy

The brightly-coloured poison arrow frogs of Central and South America look beautiful. However, their sweat contains poisonous alkaloids that attack the nervous system and can be deadly.

There are about 170 species of poison arrow frog. The most dangerous is the golden poison frog from Columbia. It is just 5cm long but one frog has enough venom to kill 10 people. Just touching it can make you very ill. Native tribes use these frogs to make their arrows lethal. The frogs aren't killed in this process; the arrows are just rubbed over the little amphibians' backs. And while they're doing it, the tribesmen are very careful not to touch them!

fab fact!

The Brazilian wandering spider is the world's most venomous spider. Its poison is 20 times stronger than that of the black widow spider

The king cobra

Choose the correct alternatives in this section:

The king cobra is the world's smallest/largest poisonous snakes. It can grow up to 5.6 metres long. If you corner one, the king cobra can stand up and look you in the eye!

This snake's poison isn't as strong/weak as some other snakes. However, the king cobra injects more poison than other snakes. There is enough venom in one bite to kill 20 people within five minutes. A fully-grown king cobra can kill an elephant in a few hours.

The king cobra lives in the highland forests of Southeast Asia. Like other snakes the king cobra is a carnivorous/vegetarian reptile. When it is young it eats frogs, rats, eggs and lizards. When it's bigger it spends most of its time eating other snakes. King cobras love to eat kraits and other cobras.

The blue-ringed octopus

Find words that mean:

sneak up on, by mistake, live to tell the tale

Although the blue-ringed octopus is only the size of a golf ball, there is enough poison in its bite to kill 25 people within a few minutes.

This tiny sea creature lives in ocean tide pools in the seas between Japan and Australia. The octopus ambushes crabs, shrimp and small fish, poisoning them with one bite before eating them.

Although quite shy, this octopus will bite if you accidentally step on it. Its poison causes paralysis - if you are bitten you can't move, not even breathe.

If there is nobody nearby to help, this will quickly prove fatal. But if someone can help you breathe until medical help arrives, you will most likely survive.

Venomous creatures in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has its fair share of poisonous snakes.

The endangered banded krait lives in the New Territories, and on Hong Kong and Lantau Islands. Its poison is said to be seven to 14 times more potent than cobra venom. It sleeps during the day and comes out at night to hunt fish, frogs and lizards.

The mock viper lives in woodlands, shrublands and grasslands on Lantau Island and in the eastern New Territories. It lies in wait for lizards and frogs then pounces and gobbles them up. This snake is mildly venomous but very bad tempered.

When in the ocean you should watch out for the banded sea snake and the ornate sea snake. Both have black and white/cream stripes. Like most sea snakes these are very venomous but fortunately they are also very rare in Hong Kong.

fab fact!

Queen Cleopatra of ancient Egypt committed suicide in 30BC by allowing an asp, another name for an Egyptian cobra, to bite her

now do this

Try to answer the following questions without referring to the text

1. Box jellyfish have poisonous ...

a. bites

b. tentacles

c. spines

2. King cobras are the world's ...

a. longest poisonous snakes

b. shortest poisonous snakes

c. thickest poisonous snakes

3. The king cobra's favourite food is ...

a. people

b. birds

c. snakes

4. The blue-ringed octopus is ...

a. three metres long

b. one metre long

c. three centimetres long

5. Poison arrow frogs live in ...

a. South America

b. North America

c. Africa

6. The world's most poisonous spider is the ...

a. asp

b. black widow

c. Brazilian wandering spider

Answers

Page 7:

True or false?

1. T, 2. F, 3. F

Synonyms:

ambush, accidentally, survive

Correct alternatives:

largest, strong, carnivorous

Antonyms:

beautiful, long, ill

The quiz:

1. b, 2. a, 3. c, 4. c, 5. a, 6. c

Websites

10 deadliest snakes

Karaits, taipans, boomslang and seven other deadly poisonous snakes.

Poisonous plants and animals

Compare dozens of poisonous animals and plants from all over the world.

Top 10 deadly creatures

A slideshow that looks at animals that kill - but not necessarily with poison!