Port Moresby residents now can learn more about reptiles, with a new reptile precinct being established at the Port Moresby Nature Park (POMNP).
The Park hopes to showcase up to 30 different individual animals from snakes, both venomous and non-venomous, to turtles and frogs.
This will be the only place where people will be able to see venomous snakes on public display.
The Park hopes to use that space as well to educate people on the importance of snakes.
POMNP general manager Michelle McGeorge said they also want to teach people how to protect themselves so that they are not in harm’s way.
She highlighted that quite a lot of deaths in PNG are from snake bites, but most of the snake bites and deaths are actually caused by the taipan.
“We want to educate people on that and how to prevent being bitten by a snake as 80 percent of snake bites could be prevented if people wore gumboots in the garden.
“We really just want to push the message that people have to live with snakes as they have a very important role to play.
“Snakes keep the rats away; if we didn’t have snakes, we would be overrun by rats.
“So snakes are really important but we just need to take that extra precaution to protect ourselves,” McGeorge said.
It will take about three months to complete the Reptile Precinct.