COVID lockdowns may feel like a distant memory, but their impact is being felt right now at the Australian Reptile Park, where a missing generation of funnel-web spiders is placing pressure on one of Australia’s most important life-saving programs.
During the 2020 lockdowns, movement restrictions meant almost no funnel-web spiders or egg sacs were donated to the Reptile Park. Those egg sacs, which would have matured years later and joined the venom program, simply never arrived. As a result, the Australian Reptile Park is now operating at around half of its usual funnel-web spider capacity, one of the lowest numbers seen in the Park’s history.
The Australian Reptile Park is the sole supplier of funnel-web spider venom for antivenom production in Australia and relies heavily on public donations to sustain the program. Only adult male Sydney funnel-web spiders are milked, as their venom is significantly more potent and essential for antivenom. Once mature, these males live for only around one year, meaning new donations are constantly needed to keep the program running.
Collecting enough venom is a slow and delicate process. It takes approximately 150 individual venom milkings to produce a single vial of antivenom, and in the most extreme cases, up to 13 vials have been required to save one patient’s life. With fewer spiders available, the amount of venom that can be collected is currently limited.
In recent years, the Reptile Park has made major investments in expanding its funnel-web breeding facility, with more than 2,000 juvenile spiders now being raised to secure the future of the program. While this provides long-term reassurance, these spiderlings are still years away from reaching maturity and cannot yet be milked.
Recent hot weather followed by rain has created ideal conditions for funnel-web spiders to become more active and move around homes, increasing the likelihood of encounters in residential areas. The public is being urgently asked to safely capture and donate any funnel-web spiders found, particularly across Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle regions. There are 15 official spider drop-off locations between Sydney and Newcastle.
Since the funnel-web antivenom program began more than 40 years ago, not a single person has died from a funnel-web spider bite, an extraordinary achievement credited to antivenom and rapid medical treatment. The Park remains committed to protecting this record, but public support is critical to ensure the program continues during this challenging period.