The big four snakes — Russell's Viper, Common Cobra, Common Krait and Saw Scaled Viper — are responsible for more than 90 per cent snake bite deaths across India. But, surprisingly, the Government has no incident-related data that could help it frame policies and develop better snake anti-venoms to save the victims.
Taking initiative in this direction to collate the data at the ground level, The Big4 Mapper app has been developed that would register each incident of bites by the big four snakes. The app which is a part of "Indian Snake Bite Initiative," a joint project by Madras Crocodile Bank , Global Snakebite Initiative and Indiansnakes.org would help conservationists and herpetologists to map out the distribution of snakes and incidents of bites reported in the country.
By collating incidents at the ground level, the app aims to help researchers and policymakers get a clearer picture of the situation and can potentially save lives, said the brain behind the app, Jose Louies from the Wildlife Trust of India.
He elaborated, "The Big4 Mapper app helps conservationists and herpetologists map out the distribution of snakes and incidents of bites reported in the country. The app can potentially save lives, once it reaches its critical mass and if received well by the government machinery." Talking about its functioning, he said that the snake rescuers have to download the app and take a photo of the snake every time they go on a rescue trip. When rescuers take a photo of the snake in the place they found it, the app automatically logs in the GPS coordinates, time and the date.
The rescuer also logs in which species and whether the snake was found inside the house, or outside or whether it was found dead. To prevent fake entries, photos can be taken only through the app and cannot be uploaded later, said the activist.
"There is no dearth of snake rescuers in the country. There are at least 6,000 of them who are officially registered with the forest department," said Louies who heads the wildlife crime control unit of the WTI.
Presently, the app logs only the Big 4, but it will soon cover 30 more species by December end.