Australia Zoo has urged citizens to capture and donate the world’s deadliest spiders – the funnel-web spider – to support the production of life-saving antidote.

According to a statement from the park, this year’s spider season has been weak, but their numbers are expected to increase in the coming months, reports the Independent.

Due to the weak season, the park is in particular need of males of this species, as their venom is crucial for the production of antidote.

Spider keeper Emma Tenney said that public support is more important than ever, as the number of spiders donated to the antivenom program has decreased compared to previous years.

“The high humidity and rainfall expected this fall will create perfect conditions for the funnel-web spiders to move around, so we are calling on everyone to help collect them,” Tenney said.

The male Sydney funnel-web spider is the deadliest spider in the world, but thanks to an antivenom program that began in 1981, no deaths have been recorded.

The program currently collects venom from more than 2,000 spiders, but only the males are used for venom extraction.

Once the venom is collected, the spiders are shipped to Melbourne, where they are used to produce antivenom.