Thea Litschka-Koen and Bongani Bheki Myeni securing a black mamba, estimated to be 2.5m long, that they had just caught in an outbuilding at a homestead in the village of Lukhula. Litschka-Koen trained Myeni to catch and handle snakes, and he is now the only person other than her husband, Clifton Koen, who she will work with when catching a black mamba, a snake feared for the potency of its venom as well as its speed and aggressiveness when cornered.

Thea Litschka-Koen’s involvement with snakes began after one of her sons had to do a school project on snakes. She soon realised that snakebite envenomation was a serious problem in the eSwatini. In the fifteen years since, Litschka-Koen has become an internationally-recognised expert, working tirelessly to improve snakebite awareness, education and treatment, and improve access to antivenom. In addition to her full time job managing hotel and other facilities, she spends much of her time responding to snake callouts, 'rescuing people from snakes, and rescuing snakes from people.' She established the Swaziland Antivenom Foundation, which has set up eleven antivenom banks around the country to reduce the time needed for people to reach lifesaving treatment, has trained a network of volunteer snake catchers, and is working with international researchers on the development of improved antivenoms.