Before mamba antivenins were developed in the 1960s, black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) bites were 100 per cent fatal. This chilling fact earned the black mamba its reputation for being the most deadly snake in the world. Today, although death can occur within 15 minutes, usually the patient will survive for up to 4 hours - sufficient time to get treatment - and human deaths are rare.
Despite its notoriety, the black mamba is not aggressive. In fact, if a human is spotted it is most likely to turn tail and flee. And flee it can, at speeds of up to 20kph, making it one of the world's fastest snakes.
The black mamba's venom causes paralysis and when it strikes small mammals it will hold them until paralysed then consume them whole. Interestingly, when a larger animal is bitten, the victim is released and the snake stalks its prey until the paralysis takes effect and it drops.
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