Wildlife SoS Rapid Response Unit rescued two snakes from different locations in South Delhi on Sunday night.
Rescue team got a call from Vasant Kunj while the another call was received from Panchsheel Park area. In both cases, they rescued a common Sand Boa, a non-venomous snake specie.
According to Wildlife SoS official, "A family in Vasant Kunj stumbled across a common sand boa in their house. Suspected to have wandered in from the neighborhood park, the snake was spotted in the verandah located behind the house." "It wasn't long before the incident was reported to Wildlife SOS on their 24-hour helpline number. A team of two snake rescuers were soon dispatched to carry out the rescue operation," the official said further.
Around the same time, another call was received from Panchsheel Park where the snake was spotted in the drive way of the caller Gaurav Sharma, who stopped the guards from killing the snake and called Wildlife SOS. "I was out on a stroll when I saw a couple of guards huddled around the snake. I urged them against taking such a drastic measure and called Wildlife SOS for help, after coming across their helpline number online", said the caller.
Wasim Akram, Deputy Director-Special Projects, Wildlife SOS, said "We are happy to see people taking correct measures by calling our team in such situations. We request the public to keep supporting our cause and immediately report any such situations on our helpline number. Our team works round the clock dealing with multiple snake rescue calls every day. They often range from venomous to relatively harmless non-venomous snakes, and the team is well-equipped to undertake any such rescue operations."
Interestingly, this species of the reptile has many myths because of its double faced look. Due to this, it faces serious threat on human contact.
With increasing urbanization, deforestation, construction and shrinking habitats, there has been an increase in the incidents of human-snake conflict. This makes it even more crucial for people to be aware of serious threats faced by these reptiles and to know effective and harmless ways of mitigating such encounters.