Snakes' role important for ecosystem, say experts

Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, November 11

A webinar on ‘Rediscovering snakes’ was organised by Pushpa Gujral Science City here on Wednesday.

Yash Singh, snake conservationist and wildlife photographer, said: “India has the largest number of snakebite deaths. There is an urgent and inescapable need for us to understand the way to safely coexist with snakes and take necessary precautions to bring down the number of snakebite cases.”

He said there were about 3,600 species of snakes globally and India had more than 300 species of snakes, with more species being discovered now with more people working in the field and use of latest technology.

He said: “Most snakebites occur when people try to capture or kill a snake. When left alone, snakes present little or no danger to people. Snakes usually prefer to retreat when encountered but can become defensive if threatened.”

Dr Neelima Jerath, director general, Science City, said: “Biodiversity plays an important role in maintaining the health and ecological balance in an ecosystem. All species are in a complex food web and help to maintain a population balance. Without snakes, the number of prey species would increase to unnatural levels and destroy the stability of the ecosystem. Similarly, if a large number of snakes are killed, the predators that eat snakes will struggle to find food. Snakes are thus an important component of the natural environment. Snakes are also an important part of biodiversity with different species living in different environments, like tropics, deserts, grasslands, deciduous and coniferous areas. Many snake species have adapted extremely well to live with humans. We can also adapt to live safely with snakes,” she said.

Dr Rajesh Grover, director, Science City, stressed on the need to immediately transfer snakebite victim to a health facility, where optimal medical care with anti-snake venom (ASV) was available and definite treatment could be provided. “It is an acute life-threatening time and preventable public health hazard. Unfortunately even today, most of the victims initially approach traditional healers for treatment and many are not even registered in the hospital,” he said.