Over 250 snakes, including cobras and rat snakes, rescued in past 3 months in DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN

: In an indication of how there is increasing conflict between man and members of the reptilian kingdom possibly due to shrinking space in forests and other environmental factors, the forest department has rescued over 250 reptiles, including cobras and rat snakes, from several localities in the state capital in the past three months.


Many of the reptiles have been found in houses. Renuka Sahani, 36, who lives in Usha Colony on Sahastradhara Road, said, “A cat

snake

was rescued from our house about a fortnight ago. My 6-year-old son was the first to spot the

reptile

in the kitchen and panicked. We called the wildlife quick response team in the middle of the night. To our relief, the forest team acted quickly and removed the snake.”

Several snakes have also been recovered from the Raj Bhawan campus with the most recent rescue being that of a 4-ft-long cobra a few days ago.

Forest officials say that

deforestation

and change in weather are among the top reasons behind snakes getting into houses. “Due to global warming and deforestation, the reptiles are not getting enough space and preys in the forests. Hence, they are heading towards human habitats,” said Arshad Aalam, a herpetologist and head of wildlife Quick Response Team (QRT) in Dehradun. He added that most of the snakes have been rescued from kitchens and gardens of houses in Garhi Cantt, Raj Bhawan and Jakhan areas of the city.

Further elaborating on the issue, a senior scientist of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said that snakes are on hibernation around this time of the year, and their early sightings are “a cause of concern.” “If they are being spotted in hibernating season, it means they are out in search of food, which is not a good sign.”

The common ‘venomous’ snake species seen in Dehradun are Russell’s viper, Common krait, Indian cobra,

King cobra

(rare), White lipped pit viper (rare) and Bamboo pit viper (rare). Some of the semi-venomous snakes are Cat snake, Forsten’s cat snake, Checkered keelback, Stripped keelback, Himalayan Keelback (rare), Common trinket and Copper-headed trinket.

This year so far, various ‘rare’ species of snakes have been found in the state capital. Aalam said that some such species which were not found in Dehradun earlier like Common Sand Boa were also being sighted. “We had earlier never rescued Common Sand Boa from the railway station area but we are doing so now. We are trying to analyse the change in their movement pattern.”

Environment experts added that recent construction works in and around the outskirts of the city such as Mussoorie diversion, Raipur Road and Shimla Bypass Road is also to be largely blamed for snakes shifting their habitat.


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