CHENNAI: In what seems to be a creepy affair, eight sand boas were stolen from the snake park at Guindy on Sunday, while only a day before a similar one went missing from Vandalur zoo.
“The locks of the two glass enclosures housing the two red sand boas and six black ones at the Guindy park were found tampered with on Sunday,” park director R Rajarathinam told The New Indian Express.
“The watchman checked the enclosures at 5 am and went for his rounds. On returning to the area an hour later, he found the snakes missing and a complaint was subsequently filed at the Kotturpuram police station,” he said.
The one-acre park showcases about 200 snakes belonging to more than 20 varieties.
Though there are four guards, security has never been a big issue, as there has never been any attempt to steal the reptilian inmates.
The two consecutive thefts, therefore, has baffled the park authorities and the police, who are groping for the motive. Their plight is understandable.
The sand boas are not great lookers like the King Cobra or poisonous as the Krait or the Russel’s Viper. Non-venomous and docile, they are found throughout India and often in rat holes. Like other snakes, they are nocturnal and feed on insects, lizards and rodents.
While a special police team has been set up to probe the twin cases, speculation is rife about why the snake thieves are targeting sand boas.
It is common knowledge that in Eastern countries like Taiwan and China, snakes are considered as aphrodisiacs, especially the blood of poisonous varieties. The slithery creatures are also reported to have medicinal value.
But the sand boas are nonvenomous.
Yet sources say that they fetch a large price for their reported medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities. In Mannur and Kadambathur villages in Tiruvallur district, JCBS are brought to dredge the land in search of sand boas, the sources said.
Brokers from Andhra Pradesh, who come to buy them from the villagers, make a fortune by selling them to their rich clients, they added.