With demand for venom from the pharma sector soaring, the illegal trade in snakes is viciously expanding as the reptiles are caught and sold virtually openly, especially in Maharashtra
Ashok Kumar | Clarion India
MUMBAI – While many people look at snakes as dangerous creatures, to be beaten and killed, there is unfortunately also a growing tribe of ruthless individuals who see these reptiles as opportunities to make money and exploit them.
The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, banned the trapping and killing of the reptiles, and even snake charmers, numbering in the thousands, had to give up their trade all over India.
Sadly, in states like Maharashtra there appears to be a booming trade in illegally catching snakes, extracting their venom and unlawfully selling them at hefty prices to the pharmaceutical industry, where it is used to produce drugs.
“There is a major racket going on in the state where big time operators manage to get venom, which is then sold to the pharmaceutical sector with huge profit margins,” says Rohan Bhate, ex-honarary wildlife warden of the state’s forest department, and member for the Indian government’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. “They go to small villages and get the venom from snake catchers and take it back to the cities where it is sold to some companies.”
There is an acute shortage of snake venom in the country, even as the demand continues to soar. Maharashtra records the highest number of snake bites in India, according to the Haffkine Institute for Training Research and Testing, Mumbai, a government-owned body.
According to an Institute official, most people in India cannot afford the anti-venom serums or vaccines. About 12 lakh people have died of snakebites in the country during the first two decades of the 21st century.
A new study on snakebite deaths in India cited the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates of between 40,000 and 70,000 people dying of snakebites in the country every year. Those who survive the snakebites, numbering between 12 lakh and 21 lakh have to live with permanent disabilities or even go for amputation.
Bhate points out that the illegal trade in the reptiles sees hefty profits for the operators. For instance, the syndicate might pay about Rs2,000 to Rs3,000 to a snake catcher for one reptile, but after extracting the venom, they sell just one gram from an Indian cobra for about Rs40,000. A gram of venom from a Russell’s viper fetches more than Rs55,000. And venom from a King cobra is the most expensive with the price decided depending on demand.
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) had some time back estimated that over 400,000 snakes are caught illegally every year in India.
Not surprisingly, considering the hefty premiums that some are willing to pay for venom from King cobras, the operators manage to smuggle in the stuff from other states, since these snakes are not found in Maharashtra.
Bhate cites several examples of how King cobras are brought in illegally from states like Odisha by operators to smaller towns in Maharashtra and then sold to the snake syndicates. King cobras are found in the eastern states, Goa and south India.
Recently, the police arrested the leader of one of the gangs in Shrirampur, a small city in Ahmednagar district. They got the snakes from Odisha and sell the reptiles elsewhere in Maharashtra. Besides the snakes, they also seized a Slender Loris, a nocturnal primate, from the gang. Of course, the arrested person is now out on bail, bemoans Bhate.
With hardly any major crackdowns on the illegal trade in snakes, the operators are getting bolder. Many of the snakes are kept in safe homes in smaller towns, where the poison is extracted on a regular basis and sold to pharma operators.
Some of the snake racketeers have also started ‘marketing’ themselves by posing with the snakes (including the King cobras) and posting them on their social media pages. Bhate has traced many pictures of these snake sellers that have made it to social media.
The tragedy is that some of the snake rescuers who are summoned by people for spotting the reptiles in their localities are also hand in glove with the syndicate and sell the creatures to them.
It has indeed become a deadly combination of lacklustre governance, slimy operators and a shady business that is raising its poisonous vipers and destroying a natural and amazing creature – the snake.
