Home to 52 species, Hong Kong is a stable and healthy place for snakes
Of the land snakes, 14 species are venomous and eight have a fatal bite if the victim is not given timely treatment
Hong Kong is home to 52 species of snake — 46 of them land snakes and six sea snakes, which represents a high level of biodiversity for a compact area, according to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.
Of the land snakes, 14 species are venomous and eight have a fatal bite if the victim is not given timely treatment.
The vast majority of snake bites in Hong Kong (about 95 per cent) are caused by bamboo snakes, which are not particularly venomous.
The Many-banded krait, among the 10 most toxic snakes in the world, is Hong Kong’s most venomous, but it is not generally aggressive. It can grow up to 150cm in length and its bite can cause heart failure and respiratory paralysis. Its poison tends to develop over a period of between one and four hours.
Human deaths from snake bites in Hong Kong are rare. The Hospital Authority has treated a steady stream of patients in recent years; 141 in 2013, 135 in 2014 and 140 in 2015.
Some species of snake are particularly prominent in certain parts of Hong Kong, but the lack of an official snake census means their numbers are not known.