Zululand, South Africa

Research.
Education.
Coexistence.

Of roughly 3,900 snake species, about thirty kill most of the people who die from snakebite. We work on antivenom for those. We also try to keep the other 3,870 alive. They're the ones people tend to kill on sight.

Species

~3,900

Most pose no threat to humans.

Venomous

~600

Only about thirty kill routinely.

Deaths a year

138K

Most never reach a hospital in time.

Producers left

0

Sub-Saharan Africa lost its last in 2024.

Source: WHO Snakebite Envenoming Fact Sheet

The Situation

Most snakes are harmless.

The grass snake in a vegetable garden won't hurt anyone. Neither will the python in the reeds. Most snakes have no venom, or venom too weak to matter, or fangs that can't reach a human. A handful are different. Those are the ones this page is about.

A note on horses.

The standard antivenom process injects horses with venom for months. It's rough on the horses. Snake Pharm's method doesn't use them. It doesn't use any mammals.

That wasn't the reason we chose this route. The goal was faster, cheaper antivenom. Not using horses is a side effect we're glad about, and one that matters to people who ride.

Watch

A day in Zululand. Venom extraction, handling, callouts, and what happens when a school group shows up.

Subscribe on YouTube →

Support

Fund the work.

Snake Pharm runs on donations. Each dollar is tied to something concrete: a callout, food for the snakes, a month of lab work, a trial series.

The path

1

Now

·

$25K

Lab and venom collection

Run the facility. Draw plasma from the snakes that eat other snakes. Process it into antivenom.

2

Next

·

$50K

Formal animal trials

A full trial series under a vet. Tests how well the antivenom works, and whether it's safe. Regulators need to see this data.

3

Future

·

$100K+

Regulatory submission and scale

Submit the data for approval. Publish in peer-reviewed journals. Set up production to supply Southern Africa.

Pick a tier

Other ways in

Donald Schultz on a snake callout

Work with us.

We take volunteers at the Zululand facility. You'll feed the snakes, clean enclosures, help with venom extraction, and handle animals under direct supervision. Black mambas, forest cobras, puff adders. Not a tourist gig.

Donald presenting to students at a university lecture hall

Research partnerships.

If you study venom biochemistry, immunology, or snake-derived therapeutics, we can offer species access, plasma samples, and field data. We're looking for collaborations that end in peer-reviewed papers.

Donald demonstrating snake handling to a school group

Visit the facility.

Open daily near Hluhluwe. The collection covers venomous and non-venomous species native to KwaZulu-Natal. Donald runs the tour. Schools, educational groups, and film crews welcome.

The Team

The people behind it

A small team in Zululand, South Africa, across research, medicine, herpetology, and media.

Donald Schultz

Handling venomous snakes since he was 13, and thirty-plus years on has worked with venomous species across six continents. He hosted Wild Recon and Venom Hunter for Animal Planet and Discovery, and today runs the Snake Pharm facility in Zululand, in one of Africa's highest snakebite regions.

Donald Schultz

Founder & Lead Researcher

Msizi Gumede

Msizi Gumede

CTO and Cofounder

Ciamac Parhizi

Ciamac shapes how Snake Pharm looks and how its story gets told. He built the films, the brand, and the website, turning the research into something people can feel, so the animals most of us fear get a reason to be protected.

Ciamac Parhizi

Creative Director

Dr Amod Ghimire, MD

Amod is an emergency medicine doctor in a snakebite-prone part of Nepal, where antivenom access is a daily reality rather than a theory. He has published on the region's snakes, and he advises Snake Pharm on the clinical side, the part where the medicine meets the patient.

Dr Amod Ghimire, MD

Partner and Medical Advisor

Jamie Lang

South Africa-based cinematographer documenting Snake Pharm's field research and facility operations. Shoots on Canon C70, embedding with the team for extended periods in Zululand. Responsible for visual documentation of the research process, from venom extraction to plasma processing, building the visual record that supports both scientific and public understanding of the work.

Jamie Lang

Cinematographer & Field Documentation

Peter Daniel

Peter Daniel

Partner, Researcher and Herpetologist

Janine Daniel

Janine Daniel

Partner, Media and Graphic Design

Declan Davies

Declan Davies

2026 Intern

Shop

Merch

Every order helps fund callouts, snake food, and lab work.

Caution: Venomous Snakes in Transit

Vinyl Sticker

Caution: Venomous Snakes in Transit

Weatherproof vinyl. Stick it on a car window, a case, a laptop, or a cooler box.

$5+ shipping Buy

Contact

Get in touch.

Our Facility

Near Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal 3960
South Africa
Open daily, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (SAST)

Stay posted.

Occasional updates. Research, trials, new videos.

Our Partners

African Reptiles & VenomAloe Veterinary ClinicKifaru Wildlife Veterinary ServicesLööf FoundationNdlondlo Reptile Conservation & Education CenterRB Print and SignsWild ConnectionCybernetic Business Group