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Black Mamba expert Thea Litschka-Koen |
18 Nov 2009 |
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![Thea Litschka-Koen, photograph courtesy of Clifton Koen, 2009](/staticarchive/83fad4ee89f28f8434e43b9feee6560664da2b5d.jpg) The "White Witch"
The black mamba is a snake with a notorious reputation for being fast, furious and deadly. Its bite is known as the kiss of death. Without treatment, the mortality rate is 100 %. In Swaziland, these lethal snakes turn up everywhere during the summer months - in homes, schools and cars and people are bitten every week. With very limited health care and no anti-venom available, it鈥檚 becoming a crisis. A snake handler called Thea Litschka-Koen known affectionately as 'the white witch' has been helping to remove and rescue snakes, effectively offering an emergency call out service to local people. This has lead to a research project tracking black mambas to find out more about how these deadly snakes spend their lives. As Thea鈥檚 work is featured in a documentary, Jenni talks to her about her passion for venomous snakes, the difficulties of catching and handling mambas, and how to live alongside them. 'Black Mamba, White Witch' : 麻豆官网首页入口 2, Thursday 19 November, at 9pm |
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