Under the sign of the snake

Xavier Bonnet was born “under the sign of the snake”. A herpetologist of international renown, he travels the world seeking to discover the secrets of reptiles.

Fascinated by their survival strategies and their capacity for adaptation, he studies how certain species evolve in extreme conditions. On Carnac Island in Australia, where tiger snakes mutilated by their prey survive without their major sense, sight. On Shedao Island in China, where “Gloydius Shedaoensis” snakes, imprisoned on the island, hunt migrating birds. In New Caledonia, where the snakes, to free themselves from the constraints of the islands, have acquired the ability to swim.