Which are the 11 most poisonous snakes in India, a country with the most deaths caused by snake bites in the world? There are around 270 snake species in India, and 60 of them are venomous.
It is estimated that from around 94,000 deaths caused by snakes that annually occur in the world, 11,000 of them happen in India, or as other resources estimate, the figure goes up to 45,000. People usually encounter snakes during the fieldwork and fishing when the medical help is far away. Most responsible for those figures are snakes known as the “Big four” Indian snakes: saw-skaled viper, Indian cobra, Indian krait and Russel’s viper. But apart from the most deadly, which are most poisonous snakes in India?
As for the 11 Most Venomous Rattlesnakes in the World, we have used the same methodology for ranking the snakes on our list. That is collecting and comparing the data on the toxicity of snake venom. The unit developed for distinguishing the venom strength in animals is called the LD50, for a lethal dose of venom that kills 50% of sample animals (mice in this case) in the laboratory. We used the data on LD50 values from Snakedatabase and UntamedScience. As the referential value we used LD50 values that were injected intravenously, because LD50 values differ from the part of the body and different tissues treated by venom, like intramuscular injection, intraperitoneal injection (when being injected in the abdomen) or subcutaneous injection (injection under the skin).
India is surrounded by tropical waters of Indian Ocean, which is a favorable environment for many snake species both terrestrial and aquatic. That is why aquatic snakes are very common around the Indian shores. Interestingly, aquatic snakes have developed very strong venoms. Most of these snakes are peaceful creatures, attacking only when in crucial need. Of the terrestrial species, most famous of the dangerous and venomous snakes are the “Big four”. Let’s meet the others which might easily be put among them being the most poisonous snakes in India.
