The new residents of the Venomous House

The general public can now see the newest attractions of our Zoo, the white-lipped pit viper (Trimeresurus albolabris) and the mangrove pit viper (Trimeresurus purpureomaculatus). The two relatively closely related snake species are both native to the southeastern part of Asia, and it is true for both that they rarely grow longer than one meter. The pit viper is primarily a resident of open forests; accordingly, it prefers to stay on the branches of trees and shrubs. The mangrove (pit) viper, as its name suggests, prefers mangrove forests and other coastal forests, where it mainly resides on the lower branches. The diet of both species mainly consists of small mammals, and occasionally birds, smaller reptiles or frogs. They neutralize their prey with the help of their venom.

Among the two species, the white-lipped pit viper is also considered native to the territory of Vietnam. We highlight this because the current thematic conservation campaign of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria for the 2024/2025 season is specifically drawing attention to the wildlife of Vietnam. Our Zoo has also joined the VietnAmazing campaign, and even an event related to the campaign took place recently, titled A Drop of Vietnam.

The Venomous House, where the two newly arrived snake species can be seen, opened in 2009. On its upper floor, we have set up one of the largest venomous snake exhibitions in Central Europe, but there are also non-venomous species on the ground floor. Among them are reptiles, such as Indian pythons or Aldabra giant tortoises, and even mammals, like the Visayan warty pig and the Reeves’s (or Chinese) muntjac deer.
The central part of the building was originally built as a zebra stable in 1912, according to the plans of Károly Kós and Dezső Zrumeczky. In the 1930s, it was converted for kangaroos, and from then until 2008, primarily marsupials were exhibited in this animal house. Of course, the building itself has significantly transformed over time, primarily starting at the end of the 1980s and completed in 1991, during which the original building was significantly expanded at both ends and a new floor was also built on it. The reconstruction plans were then prepared by Maria Beőthy.