Thirty-three endangered snakes were rescued from poachers in Agra earlier this week by Delhi’s Wildlife SOS, in collaboration with the State Forest Department. The men were masquerading as snake charmers and duping devotees into giving them alms. Speaking about the ‘catch’, a release issued by Wildlife SOS noted that the day-long raid was conducted on the basis of a tip-off. “The Wildlife SOS team from Agra was deployed in the early hours of Monday to carry out a joint anti-poaching operation with the Forest Department. A team consisting of members of Wildlife SOS, the Forest Department and local police confiscated 33 snakes from poachers who were masquerading as snake charmers,” noted the release.
Baiju Raj M.V., Director Conservation Projects (Wildlife SOS), who facilitated the operation, said: “The seizure included 27 cobras whose fangs and venom glands had been gouged out, as well as four rat snakes, which are non-venomous, but had their mouths stitched. A python and red sand boa were also recovered.”
Dr. Ilayaraja S., senior veterinarian with Wildlife SOS, who examined and treated the snakes, confirmed that the snakes had been ill-treated.
“It was a very complicated operation as we had to delicately remove the stitches from the reptiles’ mouths, and check for infections or other injuries,” he said.
The snakes will be kept under observation before they are released. Stating that using snakes for display and entertainment is a jailable offence, Wildlife SOS co-founder GeetaSeshamani said that awareness regarding the abominable treatment of these animals was important.
