Guwahati: At least 20 venomous snakes, including cobras, were captured from a house at Mariani in Assam’s Jorhat district on Saturday. The snakes were captured from the house of Shankar Bania by snake expert Anil Tassa. Bania and his family had been reportedly cohabiting with the snakes at their home in the Hunwal tea estate in the Nagadhuli Hatijuri area of Mariani for the past few months. According to Bania, the snakes had taken shelter at his home and he is not involved in the wildlife trafficking.
Bania said that his family often used to chase away the snakes but they again returned to take shelter at their home.
On being unable to get rid of the venomous snakes, Bania informed Tassa who came and captured the snakes.
“The snakes had been taking shelter at our home for the past few months. Every time we tried to chase them away they used to return. We were scared as most of them were venomous and we have small children at our home. Finally, we sought the help of a snake expert who came and captured the snakes,” Bania’s wife told media persons.
The snakes were later released into the wild.
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Hearing the news, a huge crowd gathered outside Bania's house to have a glimpse of the snakes.
A villager said, “On hearing that a large number of snakes have been recovered at the Hunwal tea estate, I rushed from Mariani town which is two kilometers away from here. I did not want to miss the chance of witnessing so many snakes together. Moreover, it was strange that the family had been living with the snakes at the same place for such a long time. I had never seen so many snakes together before. It is a rare phenomenon.”
Assam and the other Northeastern states are home to several species of venomous, non-venomous, and mildly venomous snakes.
The range of forest cover of Assam inhabits various species of snakes, including the rare ones, which are not found elsewhere.
The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve in Assam’s Golaghat and Nagaon districts is home to two of the world’s largest snake species — the reticulated python and the rock python. The UNESCO world heritage site also has a sizable population of king cobra which is the longest venomous snake in the world.
The park is also home to the rare monocle cobra, Indian cobra, Russell’s viper, and the common krait.
The writer is a senior independent journalist covering the Northeast.
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