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Karike, Aug. 31: Madikeri Forest Patrol officers have arrested a team that was illegally capturing the world's longest venomous snake, the Kalinga snake, protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, and allowing people from Maharashtra to do inhumane photoshoots and video shoots with the Kalinga snake for money.
Two snake rescuers from Kodagu and two people from Maharashtra have also been caught in this crime. All of them were found to be doing snake catching work in the name of an organization called NSF, which is not registered in Karnataka. Some snake rescuers, who appear to be social workers in the eyes of the society, are using their snake-catching skills to save human lives and use them to catch snakes, harming the mute animal in an inhumane way. The Forest Department has taken this case seriously. If any snakes are found in a densely populated area, the snakes can be rescued and released in another suitable place to avoid human or snake loss. Those who undertake this work should inform the local forest office within 24 hours about the capture and release of the snake.
Reptiles are very important for maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Therefore, it is better to capture snakes only if there is a risk of human or snake loss. Otherwise, capturing and relocating snakes unnecessarily will be harmful to human life. Because snakes control their offspring by eating rats, frogs, etc. Some other snakes like the black cobra eat other snakes and keep the snake population in check. Snakes should be protected free of charge, keeping in mind the important nuances of snakes that contribute to the ecological balance through their diet. However, department officials said that it is inevitable to punish fake rescuers who develop the skill of catching snakes and use that skill for their personal gain for violating the law. Unauthorized capture of snakes, keeping them illegally, using them as exhibition objects, and releasing them anywhere at will is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. This is a serious offense and is punishable by 3 to 7 years. Therefore, organizations and volunteers responsible for managing human-snake conflict need to understand the outlines of rescue operations and act accordingly, said a forest department release. Assistant Conservator of Forests of the Forest Department Ganashree K.V., In-charge Zonal Forest Officer Jagadish, Sub-Zonal Forest Officers Manjunath B.K., Srinivas R., Halesh M.C. were involved in the operation. -Sudhir Hodde
Note:This article is translated by xklsv.com, from shakthidaily.info; the Shakthi Daily is not liable for any errors in translation. If there are any errors in spellings, please mail [email protected]
