Considered to be the island with the second highest density of snakes in the world, second only to Shedao in China, Queimada Grande Island, located off the coast of São Paulo, is a veritable “snake sanctuary”. The site covers some 430,000 square meters and attracts people who are curious about its somewhat poisonous fauna. So, keep reading this article where we’ll tell you all about “Ilha das Cobras”, São Paulo’s Snake Island.
The area is 35 kilometers from the coast, belongs to the Cananéia-Iguape-Peruíbe Environmental Protection and is only open to researchers. In other words, if you want to go there one day, you’ll need a few years of study in the field of biology and a lot of courage!
Curiosities about São Paulo’s “Snake Island”:
The first record of the island was in 1532, with the explorer Martim Afonso de Souza. Before setting off, the sailors set fire to “ward off bad luck”. This action was repeated many years later by the Navy, which wanted to exterminate the snakes, hence the name Queimada Grande (literally ‘large burn’) Island.
On this island covered by the Atlantic Forest there have already been two shipwrecks: one in 1893 and another in 1933. Even today it is possible to see what remains of the ships, as the waters around the island are crystal clear.
Incredibly, humans once inhabited the region! At the end of the 19th century, the Army built a lighthouse on the island and, for 14 years, it was maintained by the lighthouse keepers who lived there. In 1925, the system was automated and the professionals removed from the island. But during his stay there, Antônio Esperidião da Silva collected and sent specimens of the ‘jararaca-ilhoa’ to Butantan Institute, thus making research into the species possible.
Meet the island’s inhabitants
Although there are more than three thousand snakes on the island, there are only two species that live there: the jararaca-ilhoa and the dormideira. There are also two species of lizard, two species of amphibian, permanent and migratory birds. This means that the region has significant added ecological interest.
The natural serpentarium is home to a species unique to the island, the jararaca-ilhoa: considered one of the most dangerous snakes in the world, whose venom can kill a human within six hours of being bitten. One difference between this species and others found on the continent is that, in order to feed on birds, it has developed the ability to climb trees, making it the only snake in Brazil to do so.
