The exhibition with a sting in its tail!
The snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, insects and other venomous creatures in the POISON exhibition are live and spread throughout more than twenty terrariums. A trained specialist looks after their health. With a bit of luck you can even observe him working (through the window of our secure laboratory)!
For the welfare of the animals, during your visit please try to move slowly, don’t knock on the tanks and make as little noise as possible: (sound) vibrations disturb them and could make them hide away in a corner where you will not be able to see them.
Animals can transmit their poison by biting, stinging or through skin contact. Among those who bite, in POISON you can observe the puff adder Bitis arietans and several other snakes, the Glauert's monitor lizard (Varanus glauerti), three tarantulas, three black widow spiders and a centipede. The stingers are well-represented by a scorpion, several assassin bugs, and stick insects. Meanwhile, brightly coloured poison-dart frogs, a toad and a Chinese fire belly newt all secrete a toxic substance on their skin.
The venoms these animals produce can cause pain, paralysis or death. Venom is a powerful weapon for hunting or self-defence, but it requires energy to produce, making it a valuable resource.
In POISON the oriental fire-bellied toad’s bright colouration, the King cobra’s intimidating posturing and the western diamondback rattlesnake’s distinctive sound are certainly impressive, but do you know their purpose? They act as an alarm to warn potential predators of the risk of getting too close, and so prevent the venomous animal from wasting its precious venom!
Some species imitate these warning signs: they protect them from predators (this is known as mimicry). For example, the colouring and markings of some non venomous milk snakes resemble venomous coral snakes (but milk snakes kill their prey by constriction, not by biting).
Some poisons from plants (yew, deadly nightshade, opium poppy) and minerals (arsenic, radium) have medical applications which can save lives! It is also the case with venoms of animals like the copperhead snake Agkistrodon contortrix (a viper whose venom contains a protein which halts the growth of cancerous cells in mice), the waxy monkey (tree) frog Phyllomedusa sauvagii (whose skin secretions contain a painkiller – 40 times stronger than morphine – that generates energy), and the Gila monster Heloderma suspectum (a lizard whose toxic saliva contains an protein which regulates insulin).
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