Poisonous snake snakes in the Congo jungle

The jungles and rivers in the Congo provide the ideal habitat for poisonous snakes such as tiger, mamba, and snake.

With vast forests, where many venomous snakes are concentrated, the Democratic Republic of Congo is a hot spot for snakebite deaths and injuries.The World Health Organization (WHO) and non-governmental organization Doctors without borders emphasize that this is an issue that has not been addressed in Africa.To reflect the situation, photographer Hugh Kinsella Cunningham took a close-up shot of some of the world's most unique snakes in this African country and sent the Pulitzer Crisis Reporting Center.

Patrick Atelo fisherman shows a living mamba snake on the Ruki River.The snake was discovered near a village.Due to the lethal bite rate, local residents are very afraid of snakes and often kill them as soon as they see them.

Each year 2.7 million people are infected with snake venom, of which 81,000 - 137,000 deaths and many permanent injuries, according to a recent WHO report.

Years of war devastated the infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, causing the source of antitoxin serum to become scarce or impossible to distribute.Due to the habitat of poisonous snakes often in rural areas, the lack of special medical care facilities can cause many deaths.Snakes often catch fishermen's nets on the Congo River, so people need to check carefully to see if they catch a snake.

Cunnigham also took close-up shots of snakes, like the jungle cobra above. "By keeping the environment calm and standing still on the ground, I can take portraits of snakes from a distance of half a meter," Cunnigham said.

Francois Nsingi, a technician at the Center for venom resistance, ensures the most dangerous snakes are not stressed. "The most impressive portraits were taken when the snake was studying the camera lens," Nsingi said.

Joel Botsuna, assistant at the Congolese Conservation Institute (ICCN) in Equateur province, holds a dead Jameson mamba snake.The snake was killed by the local farmers the night before.Mamba snakes have extremely dangerous neurotoxins, which can be fatal after only two hours of being bitten.

The cobra snakes into the fishing trap of fisherman Shadrack Ifomi.Ifomi fishes in the river all her life and has been bitten several times by snakes but these are small snakes.Working in the low forest area entails the risk of being bitten by large snakes of camouflaged snakes and cobra snakes and attacks to defend themselves.

Snake of African fertility.

Horn scales.

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