
Queensland police have charged a 31-year-old man with manslaughter over the sudden death of an 11-year-old boy who was bitten by a snake.
The man allegedly failed to seek medical attention after the boy reported being bitten at a property at Murgon in Queensland’s South Burnett region on November 21 last year.
Police say the man and the boy were known to each other.
The man is due to appear in Murgon Magistrates Court on December 6.
Recent figures suggest there are about 3000 snake bites in Australia each year. However, there are very few fatalities compared to countries such as India.
In 2018, snake-catchers told TND that snakes were becoming more common in urban areas, especially in new housing estates (where their habitat might have been demolished to make way for houses) and in established urban areas were gardens were overgrown.
Two-thirds of Australia’s snake and spider fatalities occur in cities and towns.