LSTM’s Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit, has collaborated with National Museums Liverpool (NML) and exhibition company Blue Tokay, on 'Sssnakes Alive!', an exciting family friendly exhibition showing visitors the secret life of snakes.
Hosted by NML venue World Museum Liverpool, the touring exhibition runs from 19 September 2014 – 22 February 2015. At the exhibition, you will come face to face with live specimens, including a boa constrictor and a royal python, learn about the importance of conservation and discover what life is like in countries where encounters with deadly snakes are a daily occurrence. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a stunning skeletal mount of a 12ft Burmese python which is fully articulated and dramatically displayed. Enhancing the entire exhibition is the outstanding photography of the award winning wildlife photographer Michael Kern.
Visitors can take a look in the Field Research Laboratory to find out how LSTM is working with West African communities to develop urgently needed antivenoms. The venom unit at LSTM has played a key role in providing effective, affordable and safe antivenom to treat Nigerian victims of bites from puff adders, spitting cobras and saw-scaled vipers.
LSTM’s Dr Rob Harrison said “As well as being a fun and exciting, the exhibition shows the ecological benefits that some snakes bring and the risks posed to some of the world’s poorest communities. Snakebite affects the lives of around 4.5 million people worldwide every year, seriously injuring 2.7 million men, women and children and killing in the region of 125,000 people every year. The Alistair Reid Venom Research Unit has, for over 50 years, been researching snakes and their venom with the objective of improving the treatment of snakebite victims.”