Raipur, February 23, 2014: “When I used to first come face to face with a spectacled cobra or a krait my pulse would just start racing. But all we knew was that our priority was getting the snake out without anyone getting harmed, the snake alive and well and of course without getting bitten ourselves!” says Moiz Ahmed of Nova Nature Welfare Society (NNWS) as he looks back on how he began his journey rescuing snakes.

Moiz Ahmed and his team- A L Khan, Raza Khan, Amjad Rehman and Ajaz Ahmed- have been rescuing and releasing snakes in Raipur, Chhattisgarh for over a year as part of a Wildlife Trust of India’s Rapid Action Project (WTI-RAP) with the support of philanthropist Priyamvada Balaji. Raipur is the largest city and capital of Chhattisgarh state. The team has been releasing the rescued snakes in Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve and Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary along with other forests which are potential and suitable habitats for these reptiles.

With sprawling fields where hundreds of rice varieties are cultivated, the city is also the considered as the biggest market for iron and other raw materials like cement with many factories and power plants, which often translates into big open spaces readily available for snakes to slither into looking for food and shelter. “Snakes are extremely adaptable and the area in and around Raipur is an ideal habitat for them. Regrettably with a population of over 11,00,000 humans, conflicts with the reptiles are bound to arise and with snakes they have the utter misfortune of being misunderstood and maligned,” adds Moiz Ahmed.

With many references in religious texts and mythologies, snakes have been for centuries been portrayed as ‘evil’ or ‘taboo’ with many myths and superstitions associated with them, especially based on their appearance. Dr R P Mishra, the Regional Head of Central India for WTI, explains their ecological importance saying, “These creatures play a significant role especially since they act as natural pest control with rodents and other small mammals and birds constituting their main diet. In a place like Raipur, the paddy fields etc would be infested with these crop raiders had it not been for a healthy population of snakes quietly doing their job.”

Lack of awareness has been attributed as a major factor in the rapidly declining number of snakes primarily due to human-animal conflict. Over 345 rescues were done by the Nova Nature Welfare Society from September 2012 to December 2013 out which the most common rescues were like the Indian rat snake and the checkered keelback, which are non-venomous. Other species rescued included the Indian rock python, banded krait, spectacled cobra, common trinket, common wolf snake and banded racer. “The NNWS has been doing a great job not just mitigating human-snake conflict but also studying and recording species in and around the area and were part of a team which recorded the bamboo pit viper for the first time in Chhattisgarh,” remarks Dr R P Mishra.

“Around 94%, of the total number of snakes rescued, were non-venomous which can also be taken as an indicator of an abundance of non-venomous species compared to their venomous counterparts. Snakes always emerge more during monsoon as all low lying areas start getting flooded and they seek refuge and that’s when most of the rescues happen. We have also rescued monitor lizards on a few occasions. Unfortunately, when people see a snake or a monitor lizard they automatically presume it is venomous and their instinct is ‘fight or flight’ and the snake ends up being harmed,” says Ahmed.

Debobroto Sircar, the Project Lead of the Wild Aid Division of Wildlife Trust of India, appreciating the effort of NNWS talks about the importance of educating people saying, “They have done a commendable job in establishing their rescue operations and holding awareness programmes in various localities on identification of different species of snakes and what should be done when one is spotted. The support provided by the Forest Department has also been crucial in carrying the initiative forward of these dedicated individuals who are simply doing this out of their passion for wildlife conservation and reverence for snakes and other reptiles.”