The team of herpetologists from Terra Natura Benidorm collaborates in a study with the National Natural Toxins Research Centre of Texas, in order to analyse the composition of the venom of the moss viper (Protobothrops mangshanensis) and verify the efficacy of some antivenoms to determine which antidote is most effective against the bite.

The scientific study will allow to specify the effectiveness of several Asian antivenoms against the poison made by this species as currently there is no specific serum to fight its toxins. The project is headed by the biologist Elda E. Sánchez, who is considered one of the best international leaders in poisons research and has an extensive professional career in this scientific department.

In this first phase of the study, the herpetologists from Terra Natura Benidorm, led by David Martí, have been in charge of extracting venom from the two snakes in our park. The couple of this species, who are in danger of extinction, arrived at the park in 2014, being at that time the only couple of the species that existed in Spain.

In the next stage, the samples will be lyophilized so that no properties of the poison are lost and in the last phase, these samples will be sent to Texas to be analysed, thus detecting the composition of the poison and the degree of effectiveness of the existing antidotes.

This species is not well known, in fact, it was discovered in 1989, and it has hardly been studied since then by the scientific community, so the information regarding the composition and effects of its venom is rare. Until now, it was believed that its venom was predominantly hemotoxic, but as a result of different accidents it is now suspected that its venom may be more powerful and complex.