Sydney, Jan 3 The number of reported snake bites in Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) has spiked.
According to data released on Friday by the NSW Poisons Information Center, there were 320 reported snake bites in the state between September 1 and December 20, 2024.
It marked an increase of 35 per cent from the same period in 2023, with experts attributing the rise to weather and habitat destruction.
Of those bitten in the 2024 period, 61 were children younger than 15. None of the bites in NSW were fatal, Xinhua news agency reported.
Genevieve Adamo, a pharmacist and senior specialist in poisons information at the centre, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that people need to be more cautious of snakes, especially during the summer months when both snakes and people are more active.
Snake expert Dieter Hochuli from the University of Sydney said that there were more snake activities due to warmer weather in winter and spring.
Christina Zdenek from the Australian Reptile Academy identified land clearing for urbanization and development as another contributing factor.
She told the ABC that periods of heavy rainfall had also led to increased snake activity by enabling the growth of vegetation that supports more snake prey.
Anyone bitten by a snake in Australia is advised to seek urgent medical assistance.
In November, an Australian teenager had died after being bitten by a venomous brown snake in the yard of his family home.
The 16-year-old was unaware of being bitten on the foot by the snake in his family yard in Wurdong Heights, a small town over 400 km north of Brisbane in the state of Queensland, until he walked inside and collapsed.
The teenager's family called an ambulance and rushed him to a nearby hospital in a life-threatening condition. He was later airlifted to a Brisbane hospital, where he was placed on life support and died later.
Queensland Health advises people to call triple zero if being bitten by a snake and apply a bandage and splint to the bitten area.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor