VIJAYAWADA: At least 40 Indian rock pythons and five king cobras were killed in human-snake encounters in the last five years across the State, as per official records by Snake Saviours Society, an NGO which works with the Andhra Pradesh forest department for snake conservation.
The records showed that at least 60 snakes were killed during such encounters. Under the Wildlife Protection Act, the killing of Indian rock pythons and king cobras, among other species, is a non-bailable offence.
Ch Kranthi, the founder of Snake Saviours Society, said: “People kill snakes due to lack of awareness of the law which protects the reptile. My organisation is regularly organising awareness campaigns across the State discouraging people to kill snakes. However, the efforts are able to make the only little impact as people continue to kill the reptile the moment they see them.”
Kranthi’s organisation, which is based out of Jangareddigudem in West Godavari district, has been working with the forest department for the past five years.
He claimed to have caught 10,900 snakes and said his NGO received at least six calls a day.
“People are so afraid of snakes that when they spot one, they instantly resort to killing it, instead of calling experts to catch it and releasing it back to the wild.”
Figures by the State health department showed that 5,101 lost their lives due to snake bites between 2016 and 2018. According to recent reports, Andhra Pradesh stood third in snake-bite deaths. Kranthi claimed unavailability of anti-venom serums in hospitals and PHCs to be the reason behind the huge figure.
According to NGO’s records, four king cobras and one Indian rock python were killed in Srikakulam and West Godavari districts. He stated that snake catchers were not compensated as per their work.
Non-Bailable offence
Under the Wildlife Protection Act, the killing of Indian rock pythons and king cobras, among other species, is a non-bailable offense.
Kranthi’s NGO, which is based out of Jangareddigudem in West Godavari district, has been working with the forest department for snake conservation for the past five years.