Unconventional Conservationist

Vishal handlinh a captured monocellate cobra

The snake with glossy green back and yellowish white bottom looks spectacular as it lies curled inside the plastic box. But just as soon as its handler Vishal Satra waves a dead rat the ‘sleeping beauty’ raises its head and snaps the rodent at an electric speed. Within seconds, it catches hold of the rats head and injects the venom at a furious pace. Then it slowly gorges on the rat. “It’s bamboo pit viper (Trimeresurus gramineus), beautiful but an extremely venomous snake. It strikes with an open mouth,” says Satra while closing the lid of the box and wrapping it with thick clothes.

Keeping the box on the rack he pulled out another plastic box, and reached for the bucket filled with half a dozen dead rats. It was time to feed other snakes in his snakehouse. For the last 13 years, Satra has been relentlessly working with snakes and has built a snake rescue centre in Shimultala, a village in Hooghly, about 60 km from Kolkata. “In the last six years Vishal has rescued, treated and handed over to us thousands of snakes and also saved many other local animals such as monkeys, palm civets and jackals. Vishal along with his team are a great service for the wildlife”, informs Chittaranjan Pramanik, the range officer of Hoogly. In addition to his conservation work, Vishal is studying for a Masters degree in environmental science from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He says, “From my childhood I was fascinated by snakes. It’s my dream to be a herpetologist and a wildlife conservationist, “says Vishal.

From his very childhood, when Vishal’s family lived in Imphal, Manipur, he was involved in wildlife conservation. Unaware of the definition of conservation he and his friends used to buy rabbits, porcupines and other animals from tribal women and release them in the forest close his home. His childish acts were driven by pure sympathy for those “poor creatures”. “Later when I grew up I bought the animals and handed them over to the Imphal Zoo authority. This lasted till we shifted to Hoogly with my family for higher studies”, says Vishal.

He missed the wilderness of Imphal in Shimultala, but in no time was able build a rapport with local Snake charmers. “During the vacations I roamed around with these snake charmers from a village to another. Slowly I developed a bond with these people”, says Vishal while feeding a poisonous Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii), capable of killing an adult human within an hour. Vishal also noticed that local people killed snakes driven by sheer apprehension and fear. “Even though I didn’t have any formal training in handling snakes I started catching the hapless reptiles with a stick or a polythene bag, whenever I was informed about a snake sighting. Fortunately I still remain unbitten by a snake,” says Vishal with a big smile.

Russell Viper

Vishal soon realized the need of a formal training in snake handling, but he couldn’t find anybody who could teach him. “Then I came to know of some snake charmers at Baruipur. To meet them I’d often bunk school. At first they refused to teach me anything, but finally they gave in to my persistent appeal,” he adds. Gradually he learnt how these uneducated charmers skilfully handled the reptiles. “I was astounded to see how they could read a snake’s movement by examining just a few grains of sand in front of the snake’s hole”, he says. Then he met with Kajal Mal, an expert charmer, who trained him the techniques of handling cobras.

From 2005 Vishal felt the urge to form a group of conservationists with like-minded people. Eventually in 2006 he formed a group named ‘Shimultala Conservationists’. Says Prashanta Bagal, an active member of the group, “Whenever we heard about a snake sighting we rushed there to rescue it.” Adds Vishal, “During the rescue we’d often come across crowds of curious local people. We used the opportunity to promote our activities and spread the message of snake conservation among them.”

Says Prasanta, “People come to us to learn how to handle snakes, but most of them want to get a thrill out of it. It’s kind of a macho act for the youth. Vishal sends them to Kajal Mal to learn the nuances so that the old man can earn some money from the training sessions.” Kajal Mal, 52, has been working with Shimultala Conservationists for nine years. After 1991 when snake charming was banned, the snake charmers were left jobless. “Snake charming was the only way of earning my daily bread. If Vishal wouldn’t have helped, and I’d have starved to death along with my family,” said Kajal Mal.

Vishal treating a cobra with Kajol Mal

Vishal tries to help several other snake charmers to survive with limited fund and personal resources. If he gets adequate support from the state government he has a dream to rehabilitate the snake charmers of Bengal in a co-operative. Herpetologist Romulus Whitaker’s Chennai Snake Park Trust serves as a model for him. The park was conceived in 1972 to rehabilitate the Irula tribe who are known for their expertise in catching snakes. Says Vishal, “Whatever I know about snake handling is from these people. Every village of our country is filled with these traditional experts but they never get due respect. If our government appoints a snake charmer for each village, lots of life could be saved, both snakes and human”. Nearly 50,000 people die from snakebite in India. Most victims live in rural, often very poor, areas. This remoteness means that even doctors in the major cities of these regions don't see the issue as an immediate threat to public health.

Right now Vishal has got associated with Dr. Anthony Gomes, a leading researcher of Pharmacology & Toxicology of Venoms and Toxins at Calcutta University to hone his expertise on snake. But his ultimate aim is to rehabilitate the ‘traditional scientists” (snake charmers) and help them join the mainstream.