The snake was also brought to the hospital and wildlife workers identified it as the inland taipan. The inland taipan that bit a Kurri Kurri teenager. Credit:Cath Bowen The boy was later taken to the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle, where he was in a serious condition this morning. Although he spoke briefly to police last night, his health remains a concern for specialists as the poison continues to wrack his body, The Newcastle Herald reported. The inland taipan is known colloquially as a "fierce snake", reaches up to 2.5 metres in length and is native to western NSW, south-eastern South Australia and southern parts of the Northern Territory.

A drop of venom can kill 100 adult men and 250,000 mice, Taronga Zoo spokesman Mark Williams said. Australian Reptile Park's head keeper of reptiles and spiders Julie Mendezona said the snake's venom is a neurotoxin that acts quickly. "Effectively what it will do is it will start shutting down the function of messages going to your brain, to your vital organs, your lungs and your heart and even your muscles. "So paralysis is usually what happens with the patient. "Because it can act so fast, being a neurotoxin, that's what makes it such a deadly animal.

"It can kill someone within maybe 45 minutes. There have been reports of people experiencing effects of venom within half an hour as well. "It also contains an anticoagulant, which means it will interfere with the blood clotting, so therefore you can experience bleeding out as well." Ms Mendezona said bites were quite rare because the snake's native areas were not highly populated. The teenager's bite is probably one of about 100 in Australia's history, she said. "It's not known yet as to how the young man actually got hold of the snake. We can only speculate.

"You can actually keep venomous snakes under the correct licence. "But a 17-year-old boy would not have the correct licence at all so he shouldn't have been touching it. "You could probably speculate it was an illegal pet, but we can't know for sure at this stage." Mr Williams said there were no recorded deaths from a inland taipan bite. "Like any animal if confronted ... it will defend itself," he said.

Antivenom for inland taipan bites is kept at zoos that keep them, as well as hospitals near where the snake is found in the wild. Other deadly snakes in Australia include the eastern brown snake, coastal taipan and eastern tiger snake. Loading Police do not believe the incident is related to a break-in at Hunter Valley Zoo on Sunday night where thieves stole four pythons and two alligators. No taipans were reportedly stolen from the zoo.