It is an island off the coast of Brazil that is so dangerous, the navy sails around it to stop people getting ashore and soldiers and scientists are the only humans allowed to set foot on it. The island sits around 33km (20 miles) off the coast of Brazil and is known, ominously, as "Snake Island". While its real name is Ilha da Queimada Grande , it's not hard to see why it has been given its terrifying English name: it is home to thousands of venomous snakes, including a species of highly venomous pit viper found nowhere else on the planet.
The deadly golden lancehead has fast-acting venom which cause a range of nightmarish symptoms. Up to 4,000 of them live on Snake Island, which has been ranked among the most dangerous islands on Earth. Its venom causes kidney failure, internal bleeding and the death of living tissue.
It can kill in less than an hour. It's possible that their venom evolved to be so deadly because no mammals live on the island so the snakes needed their venom to kill birds quickly, before they had the chance to fly away. The Brazilian Navy allows no one on the island other than scientific expeditions, though this is as much to protect the snakes as it is to protect tourists.
Because the golden lancehead is so rare, its venom is prized on the black market, so they can be the victim of smugglers and poachers willing to risk their lives to get their hands on it. According to legend, one family did live on Snake Island in the 1900s to run the lighthouse but were.
