World Snake Day, held every year on July 16, aims to increase awareness. Not all of them are as scary or poisonous as we believe them to be. These fascinating reptiles are often not given the recognition they deserve just because of the bad reputation they have earned over the years.
On this occasion, we’ve
tried to disseminate information regarding snakes, particularly in Nepal, and
some conservation measures that we can do from our individual level.
Reptiles are one of the widely
diverse vertebrates on the earth. There are more than 3000 species of snakes on
the planet. Currently, there are more than 10,000 species of reptiles and
2700 subspecies within those species; the Reptile Database records currently
stand at 11690 species and 2198 subspecies (reptile-database.org, 2022) of
which only 754 are venomous (Uetz et al. 2020, Shupe 2013). In Nepal, there are
123 species of reptiles (Schleich and Kastle 2002). Shah and Tiwari (2004) have
recorded 90 species of serpent whilst reptile-database.org (accessed on July
2022) has listed 91 species.
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| Monocled cobra, Parsa National Park ©sanejprasadsuwal |
The
Snakes of Nepal are divided into 5 families of which Typholopidae and
Pythonidae are non-venomous while Elapidae and Viperidae are venomous, and
Colubridae have one venomous species Rhabdophis subminiatus (Shah and
Tiwari, 2004) and few are weakly venomous and more species are non-venomous.
The most giant poisonous and non-poisonous snakes of Nepal, which grow more than 5
meters, are King Cobra and Python respectively. The smallest snakes of Nepal
are Blind snakes which hardly reach 10cm.
There are two snake
species endemic to Nepal Xenochrophis piscator schnurenbergerii
Checkered keelback and Trimeresurus Karanshahi Karan’s pit
viper. The Asiatic rock python species is protected under the Department of
National Park and Wildlife (DNPWC) Act 1973, the government of Nepal, and 5
species have been recommended for legal protection under the Red Data Book of
Nepal (1995) including Eryx conicus, Elachistodon westermanni, Xenochrophis
Flavipunctatus schnurenbergerii and Ophiohagus Hannah which are also
included in the different threat categories of IUCN and CITES. There are
roughly a hundred snake species listed by the IUCN Red List as endangered,
typically due to habitat loss from development.
People in Nepal view
snakes negatively, and most cannot distinguish between
poisonous and non-poisonous! As a result, snakes are killed at sight
irrespective of their nature and ecological values. The field of Herpetology (the
science of amphibians and reptiles) in Nepal however, has received less
priority. Thus, a great opportunity awaits further study in this field (Thapa, S
2007).
What is the significance
of World Snake Day?
- · It highlights how critical snakes are to the ecosystem.
- · The program helps to change the attitudes of people towards snakes in a positive manner.
- goog_1219771923· It promotes the preservation of snake species since their population is declining due to climate change, habitat loss, illegal killing, and trade.
- 1. Visit the Zoo or online portals. We can visit the nearest zoo or different online portals or social media and check out the varieties of snakes that exist in your areas or regions. This might be quite educational.
- 2. Raise awareness about non-venomous snake species. Most people think snakes are all harmful which is not true. The myths can be dispelled by posting or sharing presentations on social media or at workshops.
- 3. Media outreach program. We can make some documentaries or audiovisual.
Some fun facts about
snakes
1. 1. Snakes don’t have any eyelids and sleep
with their eyes open.
2. 2. Snakes have nostrils but smell the
chemicals picked up with their tongue.
3. 3. Snakes can’t chew their prey.
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