Reaching out to people scared of snakes

He enters the Limca Book of Records for catching highest number of snakes. With rising incidences of snakes entering residential premises, Kumar has become a known face in the city and a helpline that is just one phone call away.

Snake-catcher R. Kiran Kumar with a python which he caught in Visakhapatnam on Monday. Photo: K.R. Deepak

As Rokkam Kiran Kumar stealthily opened a bag and took out the 10-feet-long python, there was a collective gasp from the big crowd that gathered at the busy NH5 road near NSTL on Monday afternoon. “This sub-adult python is like a baby. It won’t harm you unless you provoke it. Contrary to popular belief, pythons belong to the family of non-venomous snakes,” said the confident snake-catcher, who rescued the 70-kg reptile after it slithered into the compound of a house at Sector 6 of Vizag Steel Plant.

Known face

With rising incidences of snakes entering residential premises, Kumar has become a known face in the city and a helpline that is just one phone call away. In the past 10 years, he caught and rescued over 10,000 snakes in the city and the suburbs, which got him into the Limca Book of Records for catching the highest number of snakes.

Acknowledging his decade-long efforts, he was recently given official permission to rescue snakes by the Chief Wildlife Warden with the support of the Conservator of Forest.

“On an average, I rescue five to six snakes in a day. But some days, I get more than 30 calls and it is difficult for me attend to all of them,” said Kiran. In order to address this issue, Kiran has recently registered his society called ‘Snakes Saver Society’ and formed a team with 16 other members, whom he has trained to catch and rescue snakes. “We now want to reach out to city schools and colleges and conduct awareness workshops on snakes and how to be safe,” he said. “There are about 250 species of snakes found in the region, but only a handful of them are venomous,” he said.

Hailing from a village in Visakhapatnam district, Kiran spent his childhood learning the ways of the reptiles that were a common occurrence in the agricultural fields.

Even though there are over 3,400 species of snakes found worldwide, these reptiles have long been under-represented in conservation initiatives. “It is time that we understand the importance of snakes and the role it plays in maintaining the ecological balance as they keep rodents population under control. Today, man is encroaching on its natural habitat and hence it is venturing into residential zones,” said Kiran.

Apart from rescuing several pythons and tree snakes, Kiran has also caught some of the most venomous snakes like Russell’s viper and krait from the city and its neighbouring areas.

He can be reached at 9849140500.