Why snakes are responsible for most wildlife attack deaths in Kerala

Recurring incidents of loss of human lives from wildlife attacks have left many parts of rural Kerala on boil. Interestingly, government data says 66 per cent of deaths from wildlife attacks in Kerala in the past few years have been caused by snakebites outside the forest. Here is a look at the scenario, and the reasons behind it.

What data shows

State government data from 2017-18 to 2024-25 till January 31 shows 774 people were killed in wildlife attacks. Of these, 516 were victims of fatal bites from venomous snakes outside the forest. The rest of the deaths were due to attacks from elephants, wild boars, tigers and gaurs.

Another 10-year data from 2010 to 2020 shows that of the 1,048 deaths from wildlife attacks, 729 were from snakebites.

Snakes as wildlife animals

As per the WildLife Protection Act of 1972, venomous snakes such as king cobra and russell’s viper are protected under Schedule II. Non-venomous snakes such as the Indian python are protected under Schedule I. Other species are protected under Schedule IV.

Destruction of natural habitats

Snakes are categorised within wildlife, but their fatal attacks often occur outside the forest. According to scientists at the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), which had looked into snakebites in Kerala, the reptiles are coming into increased contact with humans as a large number of ‘kavus’ (sacred groves) have vanished in the face of urbanisation and fragmentation of ancestral properties.

Kavus and sarpa kavus (sacred serpent grove within a kavu), maintained over generations on the grounds of faith, acted as safe habitats for snakes. As the kavus are destroyed, snakes have had to find new havens within congested urban structures, throwing them in the path of humans more often.

Climate change

Daily temperature in Kerala has been spiralling up even before the onset of summer in the recent years. Snakes, being cold-blooded animals, depend upon the environment to control their body temperature. KFRI experts are of the view that this is one of the reasons why snakes now find comfort within houses. In 2024 alone, the forest department rescued 16,453 snakes from human habitats and released them into the forest. In the past, these reptiles remained safe in the greenery inside kavus.

A district-wise data on snakebite deaths from 2010 to 2020 shows that Palakkad had 192 deaths out of 729 during the period, the highest. Palakkad is the hottest region in Kerala and predominantly an agrarian belt, where a large number of people live close to farmlands.

Also, many snakebite victims are MGNREGA workers, who do not wear protective gear while taking up work in farm lands.

How Kerala is tackling the snake bite threat

The focus of man-animal conflict mitigation efforts is mainly on wild elephants, tigers and wild boars. However, the government has taken some dedicated steps for snakes too.

In 2020, the state launched a Snake Awareness and Rescue Protection (SARPA) App. Around 2,500 trained volunteers are part of the mission. Spread across the state, the volunteers act upon alerts from public and rescue snakes.

The state budget for the next fiscal has announced a programme, Snake Envenomation Zero Mortality Kerala, to achieve zero mortality from snake bites in the state within the next five years. Besides, Kerala has increased the compensation from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh for deaths from snakebite.