Instituto Butantan
Instituto Butantan
- Address
- Av Vital Brazil 1500 Cidade Universitária
- Website
- Phone
- 011 3726 7222
- Price
- admission adult/student R$6/2.50
- Hours
- 9am-4:30pm Tue-Sun
Lonely Planet review for Instituto Butantan
Highly respected for its groundbreaking biomedical research, this institute is best known as a venom farm. Researchers milk a total of tens of thousands of snakes of their poison, which is used to make antidotes to snake and spider bites, as well as in research for other medicines. Located in the leafy Cidade Universitária, the small museum displays snakes in dozens of shapes and sizes. At the time of research a devastating fire had destroyed almost half a million preserved specimens, though no live animals. Check ahead to ensure that the museum is operating normally.
