The African Snakebite Institute (ASI) offers a variety of courses, including Snake Awareness, First Aid for Snakebite and Venomous Snake Handling. ASI is accredited by the International Society of Zoological Sciences (ISZS) and is a Travel Doctor-approved service provider. The courses are also accredited by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). In addition to the in-person courses, we offer a variety of online courses, including beginner-to-advanced Snake Identification (for multiple regions across Africa), an online Kids’ Snake Awareness course on snake facts, snake safety and snake awareness.

ASI is also the largest provider and distributor of quality snake handling and safety equipment in Africa!
In addition to the in-person courses and quality snake handling equipment, ASI also has the largest database of factually correct FREE snake related resources.

These resources take various forms, like snake Easy ID’s, species profiles, snakebite profiles, free posters, ASI Snake Booklets, and the ASI Snakes mobile app.

Species profiles
On the ASI website as well as the ASI Snakes App, under species, you will find snake, scorpion, and spider species profiles. This includes 118 southern African snakes, 38 African snakes, 44 southern African scorpions, and 23 spider species profiles. These profiles have clear, colour photographs, distribution maps, and a short description of each species.

ASI Easy ID’s

The ASI Easy ID’s were developed to assist in identifying snakes. These ID cards point out key features to help correctly identify common or easily confused snakes.

Currently, there are 84 Easy ID cards and 44 Kids’ Snake cards, with more on the way.

Snakebite profiles
The snakebite profiles list 34 medically important and venomous species of snakes across southern Africa, and give more information on the type of venom the snake has, what to expect if someone is bitten, and possible medical treatment.

Posters
We have over 540 free downloadable posters available on our website and app. These posters cover the common snakes of various cities, towns, regions, nature reserves, other countries in Africa, and many more. We have also made some infographic posters for first Aid for snakebite in humans and dogs, kids’ snake posters, and spider and scorpion posters. All these posters are available for free download as high-resolution PDFs from the website and ASI Snakes App.

Species comparisons
We have developed the species comparison cards to assist people in identifying easily confused snakes by comparing similar-looking snakes or snakes that are often confused with one another. The cards point out critical identification features for each species that make it easier to distinguish between these species. Currently, there are 39 comparisons with more to come.

Local Snake names
South Africa has 11 official languages, but until recently, snake names were poorly documented in nine of them. Only English and Afrikaans had comprehensive lists. Thanks to a remarkable study by Dr Fortunate M. Phaka et. Al. (2025), this is no longer the case. Through years of dedicated work, he skilfully blended traditional knowledge with scientific principles to create standardised names for all reptile species across all 11 languages. Based on Dr Phaka’s work, we have made 41 Local Snake Name cards for commonly encountered snakes. These cards have a colour photograph of the species and the name of the snake in all 11 official South African languages.

ASI Snake Booklets
Our first 118 ASI Snake Booklets are available on our website. Each one focused on a specific city or town in South Africa. They’re available as FREE PDFs. Each booklet includes:
• Snakes found in your area
• Identification tips
• Snakebite first aid guidelines
• Nearby hospital information
• Contact details for local snake removers

ASI Snakes App
The ASI Snake app is available as a free download on Apple and Android phones. The app includes first aid information, snake identification features, snake removal information, free snake posters, and more. With almost half a million downloads, the app helps to spread information about snakes and advance snake education and conservation.

Social Media
We have over a million followers across our social media platforms, with one of our Facebook groups, Snakes of southern Africa, having over 530 000 members. We share all the above-mentioned information on all these platforms, along with monthly newsletters and articles on popular topics. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tiktok, LinkedIn, our WhatsApp channel, or sign up to receive our informative monthly newsletter.