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I know the Puff Adder bites the most Humans in South Africa but does anyone know which snake is responsible for the most deaths in S.A - Would be nice to see a top ten of snakes to stay away from - I know my personal favourite the Cape Cobra is pretty high up there (don't know how high) but they are still so grogeous. Any ideas anyone?????

Difficult one to answer..... The deadliness snake's venom on a human depends on various factors, like the person's health, age, size and psychological state. Factors associated with the bite plays a major role, i.e. did the bite include penetration of both fangs, amount of venom injected, the location of the bite, proximity of blood vessels, was it a multiple bite etc. The health of the snake also plays a role and also the interval since the previous time the snake used its venom.These variables makes every bite unique therefore a bite from a mildly venomous snake could be life threatening and a bite from an extremely venomous snake may be not.

All venomous snakes should be treated with respect and it would be difficult to produce a top ten. If you mess with them they will bite you!

(The Cape cobra is probably responsible for the most fatal bites in Southern Africa)

It is a lovely question.
I know from my limited experience..
what I have seen.. in striking distance:
Moz spitting Cobra 2
Boomslang 2
Puff adder 3
Mamba 1
Maybe others could add.

Thanks Pilane and Macho Mouse - I'm not looking for anything else except which snake causes the most fatalities in S.A, a top ten of most fatalities should not be to difficult and it looks like my personal favourite the Cape Cobra and the Puff adder are making an early STRIKE (like the Pun) - although I am suprised to hear the Mfezi has more victims to its name than the dreaded black mamba

By the way I know there is one for the Vine Snake

My brother is a game ranger. His comments: The black mamba is the most dangerous snake in South Africa- no question. However, it does not cause the most deaths. He suspects the Mozambique Spitting Cobra as the main culprit. The puffadder is responsible for the most bites...

I think the Black Mamba & Puff Adder are the most dangerous & are responsible for the most snake bites

Not in any specific order though!

1 ) Black Mamba (The most dangerous)
2 ) Puff Adder (so easily stepped on)
3 ) Cape cobra (very dangerous in the arid regions)
4 ) Moz. Spitting Cobra (Have seen enough of this one to stay away)
5 ) Forest cobra (Naja melannoleuca) (luckily bites are rare)
6 ) Rinkhals (you never know if it is alive)
7 ) Snouted Cobra (Naja Annulifera) (Bites easily)
8 ) Green Mamba
9 ) Boomslang
10) Eastern Birdsnake.
11) Almost Forgot: Gaboon Adder!


Luckilly for us 5, 8, 9 & 10 tries to avoid humans even more than the other poisenous snakes, but I would not confront them. I would also not mess with a large python!

No one mentioned the Egyptian Cobra yet????

#7, the snouted cobra is the new name for the egyptian cobra.

Aha thanks for that Christo that would be why no one's mentioned it then ha ha - I defintely need to brush up on all the name changes (not sure why they changed the names in the first place though)

To confuse us non-herpatologists?

Absolutely - but then again just cause they change its name doesn't mean it changes the animal - by the way chrsito I think you have voted the egyptian cobra a bit low - I know it has killed quite a few humans in africa over the years (including Cleopatra - ok wrong country but still legendary) and I think I would definetly be more scared of the E.C than the Rinkhals and Mfezi

No such thing as a poisonous snake Christo!





Absolutely not! Look at the topic Snakes moving on tar roads where I explained the name change.

My top ten in LD50 order: (The lower the LD50 index the more lethal....)


Black Mamba LD50 0.05 Venom: 50- 100mg
Cape Cobra LD50 0.07 Venom: 200- 300mg
Boomslang LD50 0.07 Venom: 1,6- 8mg
Forest Cobra LD50 0.12 Venom: 175- 300mg
Puff Adder LD50 0.14 Venom: 100- 300mg
Gaboon Adder LD50 0.14 Venom: 350- 600mg
Snouted Cobra Ld50 0.19 Venom: 175- 300mg
Mozzie LD50 0.19 Venom: 200- 300mg
Bird snake LD50 0.21 Venom ??
Rhinkhals LD50 0.22 Venom: 80- 300mg

Well Pilane I guess you are a herpatologist and very well qualified on snakes and I am sorry that we have upset you on this issue of identification - Didn't realise that they had identified this as a new species recently.

By the way thank you for the LD list but we are not looking for the snake that can kill the most mice we are looking for the snake which has caused the most human deaths - I hope you can help on this you have already said you think the Cape Cobra is responsible for the most deaths any others that may push it

Upset? NEVER! I enjoy a good discussion....
I agree the LD50 is not (maybe) a perfect guideline as relative lehality might be less severe....

I still say it is a very difficult one to answer due to all the factors mentioned in my very first post on this thread and the lack of actual and reliable records...

To give an example. A person was bitten by a 1,5m Snouted cobra a while ago. After one night in hospital with only a pressure bandage, Ringers lactate drip and a ventilator he walked out the next morning... with a bit of bladder and kidney pain.... (And it wasn't a dry bite )