Australia Zoo is asking the public for help in collecting deadly spiders and their egg sacs

A zoo in Australia is enlisting the public’s help to capture and collect deadly funnel-web spiders to save lives.

The Australian Reptile Park, located near Sydney, Australia, shared further social media that it needs the poisonous spiders – considered one of the most dangerous species in Australia, according to CNN – and their eggs for its “life-saving anti-venom programme”, which sees expert “milk” collected spiders for their venom. The venom is then used to create an antivenom for those of a funnel-web spider.

“Male funnel web spiders have short lifespans and with approximately 150 spiders required to make a single vial of antivenom, we need the public’s help to ensure we have enough venom to meet demand,” said the zoo’s spider keeper, Emma Teni, in a statement to CNN.

Teni added that the zoo relies on “spider donations more than ever.” Egg sacs are particularly useful as they contain around 150-200 spiders. She also noted that it is currently “breeding season” for funnel-web spiders near Sydney and the current weather has created “ideal conditions” for finding and collecting the spiders.

In a video posted on the Australian Reptile Park’s website about safely collecting funnel web spider egg sacs, Teni said the sacs are often found in “shady areas with sloping terrain” where the creatures “love to hide.” She said they can also be found in “bushland” and “backyards” on the Central Coast and some suburbs.

Teni also noted that people should “be cautious of adult spiders in the area,” wear closed-toe shoes and “keep a safe distance” between themselves and a spider at all times” when collecting the egg sacs.

The Australian Reptile Park recommends using a spoon to scoop the funnel spider’s egg sacs into a “smooth container” with a secure lid, as funnel spiders “can’t climb smooth porous surfaces” such as plastic or glass, according to Teni. She also warned that if a spider becomes attached to the egg sac, keep them together and scoop them both into the container.

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“We want to encourage the spider with her egg sac into the jar in one motion, and try not to make her so angry that she destroys the egg sac,” Teni said.

She noted that people should also add a small amount of moist soil to the container before dropping it off at one of the zoo’s collection centres, which are located at several hospitals and wildlife parks in Sydney, Newcastle and the Central Coast.

The zoo’s “life-saving antivenom program” has significantly affected many. One woman, Nicole Webber, shared on the zoo’s social media posts that the anti-venom “saved” her “life in 1994” and urged others to “support the program.”

Another woman, Karen Wright, noted that the program saved her son Matthew’s life in 1995 and that she was “grateful” for the program and the work people did to support it.

Funnel-web spiders vary in length and have a black to brown color, according to Australian Museum. Additionally, since the introduction of antivenom in 1981, there have been no recorded deaths from a funnel-web spider bite.