New Zealand is one of the only completely snake-free countries in the world. This is because snakes never evolved in New Zealand, and no snakes ever made their way across the ocean to make the islands their home.
It's a common misconception that New Zealand has no snakes, but it's not the truth. Marine snakes, or sea snakes, are seen regularly in the waters around northern New Zealand when warm subtropical currents carry them south from out of the tropics. A yellow-bellied sea snake found at Whatipu in 2011.
ANSWER. New Zealand separated from Australia about 60-85 million years ago. The expanse of water between them had completely isolated New Zealand's ecosystem.
An unlikely tale, perhaps—yet Ireland is unusual for its absence of native snakes. It's one of only a handful of places worldwide—including New Zealand, Iceland, Greenland, and Antarctica—where Indiana Jones and other snake-averse humans can visit without fear.
However, about three million years ago, the Ice Age arrived, meaning that snakes, being cold-blooded creatures, were no longer able to survive, so Ireland's snakes vanished. Since then, scientists estimate that the European climate has changed around 20 times, often blanketing Ireland with ice.
Due to the isolation of New Zealand, after splitting from other land mass, the wildlife was left to evolve with no predators until man-introduced pests found their way into the country. Today, it is important to preserve our native wildlife – protecting endangered species from becoming extinct.
We have many species of spiders in New Zealand, and one dangerous one, the Australian Redback Spider, has been introduced by accident. One native species, the Katipo, can give nasty bites but it is very rare and hasn't been reported to have killed a human for at least 200 years.
Due to habitat loss, their historical use as a food source by Māori, and predation by introduced species, many birds have become extinct and numerous more are threatened with extinction.
Fun Facts About Wildlife in New Zealand
With no land predators, except for birds of prey, birds in New Zealand evolved into a mix of flightless birds and melodic forest birds.
Great White Sharks
These incredible creatures are one of the world's apex predators and unfortunately, there have been fatal incidents in Aotearoa. The most recent of these was in 2021 in the North Island.
There are no dangerous animals in New Zealand
Somehow when the two countries physically separated some 85 million years ago, New Zealand's animals didn't evolve the same way. You probably know Australia's most famous native wildlife – the koala, kangaroo, wombat, emu, snakes and crocodile.
New Zealand has a very small number of poisonous and venomous animals. The grey side-gilled sea slug (Pleurobranchaea maculata) is an example of a poisonous animal. It is toxic when eaten. Venomous animals inject their toxins via a bite (for example, spiders) or sting (for example, wasps).
Snakes are illegal in Hawaii. They have no natural predators here and pose a serious threat to Hawaii's environment because they compete with native animal populations for food and habitat. Many species also prey on birds and their eggs, increasing the threat to endangered native birds.
However, there is a scientific reason behind this absence. The most recent Ice Age kept the island too cold for snakes. As the glaciers retreated northwards 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age, so the snakes also moved northwards into western and Northern Europe.
Norfolk Island is a very safe place to visit. There are no snakes on the island, and most of our spiders are harmless (even the big ones).
A number of animals came from islands north of Australia millions of years ago. For example, elapids — a family of famously venomous snakes – swam to the continent via the island archipelagos off Asia, he says.
The Fiji snake (Ogmodon vitianus), also known as the Fiji cobra or Bolo snake, is a species of snake in the family Elapidae. It is monotypic within the genus Ogmodon. It is endemic to Fiji, found only on the island of Viti Levu, and is strongly subterranean.
80% of Western Australia falls into the desert or semi-arid climate section meaning that it receives no more than a foot of rainfall all year long. The soil is not rich in nutrients and over half of the days are sunny with no clouds. There is a large variety of snakes in this area.
Australian Box Jellyfish
The box jellyfish is the world's most venomous animal with four species — Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, and Chironex yamaguchii — considered highly venomous. The Chironex fleckeri, also known as the Australian box jellyfish is considered the most venomous animal in the world.
Although other continents retained populations of venomous and nonvenomous snakes after the continental drift, resulting in a diverse snake population today, Australia's modern-day snakes share purely venomous ancestors—a heritage resulting in the most toxic group of snakes on the planet.
Rest assured there are no snakes or crocodiles. We do have one poisonous spider (the Katipo) - sightings of which are about as common as that of the Yeti. The most dangerous creature you are likely to encounter is a grumpy possum.
Snakes can be found on every continent in the world except Antarctica. Reptiles are cold blooded and their bodies need an external heat source to survive. While there are some snakes in Europe, no snake is native to Ireland, New Zealand, Iceland or Greenland.
Tasmania has three species of land snake: Tiger snake, Notechis scutatus. Lowland Copperhead, Austrelaps superbus. White-lipped snake, Drysdalia coronoides.
New Zealand has no harmful animals like venomous snakes, scorpions or venomous insects, so its sole venomous native spider – the rare katipō – has almost mythical status. Since the late 19th century there have been accidental introductions of the venomous redback and white-tailed spiders from Australia.