BENGALURU: To tackle increasing incidents of human-snake conflicts and ensure that snakes are rescued in a prescribed scientific manner, the Karnataka Forest Department on Monday released the state’s first operational manual for snake rescuers. Only Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra have their own guidelines for snake rescue.
The ‘Effective Human-Snake Conflict Management and Mitigation-An Operation Manual for Certified Snake Rescuers’ was drafted by noted herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, herpetologist and The Liana Trust founder-trustee Gerard Martin and Humane Society International/India senior manager Sumanth Bindumadhav. According to officials, while five certified snake rescuers in Bengaluru, there are none in the rest of the state, even as over 100 rescuers are on the job.
Bindumadhav said with many snake rescues happening, it has been noted that there were instances of rescuers suffering snake bites. Also many rescuers are not aware of where and how to release the snakes caught. “The guidelines will help in this. The rescuers will also be trained and certified by the Forest Department. A system will be set in place for citizens to search for names and numbers of certified rescuers online,” he said.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Vijaykumar Gogi said recognizing, validating and certifying rescuers will be implemented systematically.