The department is imparting scientific snake-handling training to its field officials who are often faced with situations involving the reptiles.

The department is imparting scientific snake-handling training to its field officials who are often faced with situations involving the reptiles.

The department is imparting scientific snake-handling training to its field officials who are often faced with situations involving the reptiles.

The Forest Department is in no mood to let the venomous snake slither away into the undergrowth, literally.

The department is imparting scientific snake-handling training to its field officials who are often faced with situations involving the reptiles.

The department’s decision comes after a series of incidents involving snakebite deaths and accidents. The latest in these are the deaths of Class V student Shehala Sherin in November 2019 and snake-catcher Zakir Hussain in June 2020. The first was an accident or an occurrence which no one could have altered. The second one was but a highly avoidable accident that occurred due to inadequate skills and expertise and some amount of negligence.

Zakir Hussain died after the snake he had caught bit him. He was displaying the cobra for onlookers.

In many places, self-proclaimed snake-catchers set out to capture snakes that find their way into households. The snake-catchers, often armed with a long stick, try to prod the snake out of its hiding. Egged on by onlookers, the men who emerge victorious with their catch, tend to display the snakes. Forest officials say the hapless creatures would be in great pain often due to the unscientific manner in which it is clutched.

The snake-catchers and even the forest field staff are inadequately trained to deal with such exigencies.

So, the department is now training its personnel on scientific snake rescue. The department recently completed the first of the training programmes and it was attended by 539 staff members.

In the training which began at Vazhachal on August 18 and concluded at Ranni on August 27, a total of 318 personnel, including 23 women, received certificates in ‘snake-handling.’

Roshni G.S., 33, a beat forest officer at Paruthippally range under the Kallar Eco-Tourism, was among those who cleared the ‘evaluation and assessment’ of the snake conservation programme. She said her fondness for snakes grew after the training. “I was never scared of snakes. It was very interesting to handle a cobra during the training. The training taught me of the scientific methods of handling snakes without hurting it. Usually, a good number of snakes rescued by snake-catchers die soon after they are released into the forest. That is because they suffer injuries during the catch. Snake-catchers too suffer fatal injuries due to improper handling,” she said.

Roshni said it was revelatory that snakes are colour blind and that they are naturally inclined to move into darker places. “So, we direct the snake using a tool to a pipe which leads to a bag. Without much effort, the snake would enter it,” she said.

While Roshni was confident, Divya K. Remanan, 36, a beat forest officer based in Kottayam, was a bit afraid before the training. “After the theory class, I became confident and was able to handle a trinket snake during the practical session. Now, I have started going with the department rescue team,” she said.

Divya said apart from rescue methods, the training also covered conservation aspects. “If we notice the presence of snake eggs, it is important not to disturb the position of each egg, else it won't hatch. So, we make small marks on it and will carefully place it in its natural habitat,” she said.

Forest Minister K. Raju said steps such as issuing licences for snake-catchers were introduced after several incidents came to the department's notice. He said 2,194 people sustained snake-bites in the past three years. Of these, 1860 were rescued.

Muhammed Anwar, Deputy Director, State Forest Training Institute, Arippa, said the department had made a set of its employees capable of handling snakes in a scientific way.

“In the second phase, we will provide training to volunteers. There are volunteers who are already associating with us and following a scientific practice. However, the majority of volunteers are not trained. Once we provide training, only those who qualify the assessment programme will be allowed to rescue snakes,” he said. Interested volunteers aged between 21 and 65 can take part.

The volunteers will be specifically instructed against the display of snakes after it is caught and rough handling.

Strict documentation

Anwar said the forest department had made a set of guidelines for snake-catching and an official notification have been issued.

On the recent killing of a woman named Uthra by her husband using snakes procured from a charmer, he said the department would keep a database of rescued snakes. “There is a possibility of misuse of rescued snakes. So, the department will keep a database which would include the type of snake, date of rescue, date of release to its habitat etc,” he said.

SARPA – the mobile app

The Snake Awareness, Rescue and Protection App (SARPA) can be used by the general public and the enforcers. It will list the hospitals which stock anti-venom. Incidentally, in November 2019, Shehala Sherin was taken first to a private hospital which had no anti-venom.

Additional Chief Secretary (Forest and Wildlife) Asha Thomas had launched the app a mobile app which has comprehensive data on snakes that will help in identification and documentation.

Uploading pictures of snakes onto the app will help in its identification for better treatment. Users can also upload pictures of snakes for rescue, which will be intimated to rescuers or forest officers of the respective jurisdiction.

SARPA is available on Playstore. Forest officials said they were fine-tuning the app to make it more user-friendly.

(Jisha Surya is an independent journalist based in Thiruvananthapuram)