Recently, 13 cobra snakes were recovered from a snake smuggler of Pipili in Puri district through a sting operation by the forest range officer and his staff of the local range.
It is quite welcomed as smuggling of reptiles from the State has been on the rise over last few years. Not only the snakes but also other reptiles like tortoises, lizards and monitors are smuggled by miscreants from outside the State in league with the local people.
The reptiles are mainly divided into five orders. First is crocodile. The species crocodiles and alligators etc are included in this order. Second is Chelonia : Tortoises and turtles are included in this order. Third, lecertalia:-lizards, geckos, monitors are included in this order.
Fourth is Ophidia: Serpents or snakes of all types are in this order.
Fifth is Rhynchocephalia: Tuatara is included in this order. Except tuatara and alligators, all other species of reptiles are available in Odisha and India.
These are all tropical animal species and native of Odisha bio- climate. Due to rapid destruction of forests, river systems and wetlands, the populations of reptiles are shrinking very fast. Besides, theft of live animals from Odisha and other States is going on by the unscrupulous peoples for various economic reasons.
On March 8 last, due to strict vigilance of the forest employees of local forest division of Puri, smuggling of ophidians for the first time was detected. Ophidians are the creeping creatures commonly known as snakes. There are 2,500 species of snakes in the globe and they predominately occupy the warm climate and luxurious ecosystem of the tropics. There are no snakes in arctic regions and in New Zealand and also in Ireland. In India, there are 216 species of snakes out of which about 52 species bite. The snake whose venom can be injected to the human body in one bite and become sufficient for his death, are called poisonous. From this point of view, 400 species of poisonous snakes are found in the globe. The snakes generally avoid too much of cold and are seen up to 5,000 metre of altitude in the Himalayas. The snakes found in the ocean are all poisonous and venomous. The heaviest snake in the world is anaconda. It is a very large non venomous and semi aquatic snake of tropical South Africa whole weight can go up to 230km. Similarly the snake King Cobra is the largest snake in the world whose length can go up to 20feet.
In India, 2,016 types of snakes are noticed and of them 52 are poisonous. Approximately 20 types of snakes are seen in the Bay of Bengal and 32 species are noticed in the land.
The most poisonous snakes are the common krait, branded krait, black krait, slender coral snake, coral snake, Russell’s viper, snow scaled viper, Himalayan pit viper and bamboo pit viper. These 12 types of snakes are vulnerable to attack from human beings for no reasons. Among the non poisonous snakes, Indian python is one. But it is killed by human beings only because of fear. The nonpoisonous snakes are very innocent animals in the world. They are always afraid of human beings.
Winter is the period when the snakes usually come to paddy fields for hunting mice, rats, frogs and toads. At this time, they are easily caught by the poachers and smugglers. The snake has no hole to stay or to rest. It always enters in to the holes of rats and anthills in search of foods. The snake is a carnivore. There are certain tribes, who usually capture the live snakes in a very crude process to charm the people through applying different tricks. They maintain their livelihood through this process of snake charming.
Since the Wild life Protection Act 1972 of India has come into force within the entire Indian union with ban on wild animals and reptiles catch and their use for public amusement, these tribes have been deprived of their livelihood practices. Now, a few among them motivated by the unscrupulous dealers are utilized for capturing the reptiles live and supplying the same to the dealers in lieu of some financial gains.
The Pipili poacher, who captured the 13 cobras live was from such group. The people of this group know the art of capturing reptiles live. Such types of people are available not only in Odisha but also throughout the union. So the State Government of Odisha should think of alternative livelihood for these people.
The venomous snakes are very precious, even costlier than gold. Venom that is derived from them is used for a variety of purposes. The venom is therefore known as liquid gold or melted gold. It is sold per gram basis. Different kinds of life saving drugs are prepared from venom. The anti venom drugs are prepared from venoms of snakes. In tropical countries lakh of people die only because of snake bite. So the snakes are very precious not only for human lives, but for other animals. There is a tribe known as Irula in Tamil Nadu which has professional expertise for capturing of snakes of all kinds. When capturing and displaying of live snakes were banned by law in Tamil Nadu, the Irul tribe suffered the most. So a constructive programme was initiated in Tamil Nadu for engagement of such tribe and extraction of venom from snakes. For the first time, more than fifty families of Irula in Madras and Chingalpata of Tamilpatna got licences for capturing of snakes and to supply the live snake to different firms for collecting venoms in 1978. A cooperative firm was established in Tamil Nadu for the first time in the world for capturing live snake and supplying the same to venom firms. They also got training for extraction of venom from live snakes and were paid the cost for each snake. It is estimated that one gram of precious venom is extracted from 10 snakes of cobra group.
The Haffkin Institute in Madras once was very famous for purchasing live snakes and dealing in snake skins and other kinds of animals.
The snakes bring biological control over mouse, rat and frog populations. The good grains of man are wantonly destroyed by the mice and rats from crop fields to storage godowns, and their populations should be under control. The skin products of snakes were once in great demand for manufacture of ladies’ vanity bags. In Ayurveda, snake fat is in great demand for medicinal purposes. The Nagas or the cobras are worshiped in many parts in India on Nagapachami and Ananta Chaturdashi for prosperity.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)