Panchami sounds death knell to cobras

Between 200 and 400 snake charmers collect at mini-colonies at Telli Gulli in Andheri, Shahad near Kalyan and Mumbra in Thane district. They fan out to various suburbs charming the gullible.

“It is a myth that snakes lap up milk. Neither do they have ears for the snake charmer’s tunes. The blind belief is held by the naive, particularly those with a religious bend of mind,” says naturalist Vijay Awsare, who helps forest officials in seizing snakes.

Speaking to Express Newsline Nitin Kakodkar, deputy conservator of forests in the Wildlife Division of Thane, said, “About 2000 cobras normally meet a premature end at the hands of the unscrupulous snake charmers. Nowhere have we heard of so many snakes being killed on one occasion.” Last year, officials rescued and released 600 of these reptiles in their natural habitat. This year, conservation efforts this year are centered around recovering a King Cobra – a rare and endangered species – which might be on display on Nag Panchami day.

“We have specific information that a snake charmer is in the city with the endangered King Cobra (Naja Naja species). Efforts are on to seize the giant snake and release it in the wild,” says Faizal Majjawar, a `Friend of Snakes’ activist. Many of the cobras seized between 1994-96 were found toothless. The saperas brutally extract the teeth leaving septic abscesses. The snakes are starved and their jaws sewn with just enough room for the tongue. This cruelty combined with indigestion due to forcible feeding of milk, which is not their usual diet, leads to death.

Also, clandestine trading of skins after the festival fetches huge profits, a warden said. Kakodkar said possession of a snake is an offence under the wildlife protection act. “Due to a lack of skilled staff to handle snakes, we are enlisting assistance from nature lovers to seize and save the snakes,” he added.