It looks like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie: an intrepid explorer sealed in a chamber with a slithering mass of deadly snakes. Except this explorer – biologist, adrenaline-junkie and Animal Planet host Donald Schultz – has joined the snakes voluntarily…and he’s not afraid! Right now, in front of crowds surrounding the world-famous O’Sheas Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and webcam fans on animalplanet.ca, world-renowned venom expert Schultz, is locked in a 28-square-metre glass box with 100 snakes – many of them deadly. Here, he’ll spend 10 consecutive days testing his luck against his cold-blooded “roommates” while cameras roll. Capturing all the dangerous drama, Animal Planet premieres the two-hour special, VENOM IN VEGAS, Tuesday, February 9 at 9 p.m. ET/10 p.m. PT. For real-time webcasts of Shultz’s perilous exploits go to animalplanet.ca now to catch all the action.
For Schultz, the jeopardy increases each day as he eats, sleeps and drinks alongside snakes such as pythons, rattlesnakes and cobras. He started with 50 snakes and five new ones are added daily to reach 100. But the catch? He doesn’t know which species will be introduced until he opens up each double-bagged snake delivery and discovers his venomous – and potentially deadly – new roommates.
In a shared custom 40 x 50 cm glass enclosure – complete with a bed and tiny bathroom – on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip), VENOM IN VEGAS star, Schultz, is doing more than simply existing alongside these dangerous snakes. He’s working with them hands-on every day, extracting venom that will be shipped around the world so research for venom variation and potential pharmaceutical use can continue. And when he’s not milking venomous snakes with his bare hands, he’s conducting cutting-edge tests to measure, for example, the potency of venom, the depth of fang penetration, and the strike range of the world’s fastest snakes, through the use of high-speed cameras.
“Every year, more than 100,000 snake bite victims die because the antivenom that could save them isn’t available or is in short supply,” noted Schultz. “Not only do I want to raise global awareness of the urgent need for anti-venom in developing countries, I want to push myself and test the boundaries of human/serpentine co-habitation. While this might be an average person’s nightmare, this is truly my dream!”
While living in the box, Schultz will squeeze in some fun when some famous guests stop by for a visit. And equipped with a specialized “armored” outfit, Schultz can invite them in for a cozy visit with him and the snakes – if they dare!
While there’s no guarantee even a venom veteran like Schultz won’t be bitten, Animal Planet has readied a team of world-class experts should something go wrong with him or any of the snakes. He’s working with Dr. Jeremy Sabatini, a veterinarian with extensive reptile experience; Dr. Sean Bush, envenomation expert and professor of emergency medicine at Loma Linda University; and Dr. Bruce Young, associate professor of biology at Washburn University.
Animal adventurer and venom expert Donald Schultz has travelled worldwide to collect venom and DNA from rare animals for his upcoming television series WILD RECON (premiering Monday, April 12 on Animal Planet Canada). Each week, Schultz gets his hands on some of the deadliest animals on the planet: black mambas in South Africa, sea snakes in Australia, and even rampaging elephants in Sri Lanka.
