One of the most dangerous places in the whole world is a really beautiful island: the famous Queimada Grande Island.
- The island’s name is Ilha da Queimada Grande.
- It is located off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean
- It is also known as Snake Island.
- It is administered as part of the municipality of Itanhaém in the State of São Paulo.
- It’s a small island is small of only 43 hectares (106 acres).
- The island ranges in elevation from sea level to 206 metres (676 ft) above sea level.
- The island has a temperate climate that. 0.25 square kilometres (62 acres) of the island is covered by rain forest.
- The remaining areas consist of barren rocks and open grassland.
- Queimada Grande ranges from an average of 18.38 °C (65.08 °F) in August to 27.28 °C (81.10 °F) in March.
- Rainfall ranges from 0.2 millimetres (0.0079 in) per month in July to 135.2 millimetres (5.32 in) in December.
- It has a temperate climate.
- Its climate is similar to its neighbouring island Nimer
- The island’s terrain varies considerably, ranging from bare rock to rainforest.
- It is the only home of the critically endangered, venomous Bothrops insularis (golden lancehead pit viper), which has a diet of birds.
- The snakes became trapped on the island when rising sea levels covered up the land that connected it to the mainland.
- The ensuing selection pressure allowed the snakes to adapt to their new environment.
- This led into increasing rapidly the snakes’ population.
- This is why the island is dangerous and it is forbidden for public visitation.
- Queimada Grande is closed to the public in order to protect both people and the snake population.
- Access is only available to the Brazilian Navy.
- Along with the Brazilian Navy selected researchers vetted by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, the Brazilian federal conservation unit.
- The island is partly covered in rainforest and partly bare rock and grassy cleared areas, a result of deforestation.
- The deforestation is the origin of the island’s name: the term “Queimada”.
- “Queimada” in Portuguese, means “burnt”.
- This name came from the fact that locals attempted to clear land for a banana plantation on the island, but they had to clear rain forest by burning it.
- A lighthouse was constructed in 1909 to steer ships away from the island.
- The last human inhabitants left the island when the lighthouse was automated.
- The island and the Ilha Queimada Pequena to the west are protected by the 33 hectares (82 acres) Ilhas Queimada Pequena e Queimada Grande Area of Relevant Ecological Interest.
- It was created in 1985.
- According to some assumptions it’s one snake to every square meter (10.8 square feet) of the island.
- Despite a population of 41 recorded bird species on Queimada Grande, the golden lancehead relies on only two: the Troglodytes musculus (the southern house wren), which is usually able to avoid the golden lancehead as a predator, and the Chilean elaenia (a species of flycatcher), which feeds on vegetation in the same area as the snake.
- The island was thought to have a population of about 430,000 snakes.
- But according to recent estimates snakes are much lower.
- The first systematic study of the population of the golden lancehead found the population to be 2,000 to 4,000/
- They were not spread in the whole island, but concentrated almost entirely in the rainforest area of the island.
- This might have happened because there was a limited amount of resources and the population became level.
- In 2015 an estimate by a herpetologist on a Discovery Channel documentary stated that the population remains at 2,000 to 4,000 golden lanceheads.
- The Bothrops insularis also may be at risk from inbreeding, effects of which are evident in the population.
- Because of the overall low population of the golden lancehead, the snake was labelled critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
- It also was placed on the list of Brazil’s endangered animals. The island is also home to a smaller population of Dipsas albifrons, a non-venomous snake species.
If you don’t know many things about the Queimada Grande Island, then this is your chance to learn more. So, keep on reading!
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