Rain forces reptiles to come out: 10 rescued in August

Rainfall in monsoon is hosting good numbers of reptiles in national Capital as on Wednesday, the wildlife SOS has received calls to rescue cobras from different locations.

This time a five foot cobra was rescued from Delhi Race Course premise and another one from the basement of a factory in Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development and Corporation (DSIIDC) Bawana.  Both reptiles are currently under observation and will be released back into the wild, once deemed fit by the veterinarians.

Incidentally, the NGO rescued more than ten reptiles in August.

 “On Tuesday evening, the Wildlife SOS team received a distress call on their 24 regarding a cobra sighting in the Delhi Race Club premises. Occupants residing at the adjoining BR Camp found the large snake outside a house, nestled inside a hole in the wall,” said Wildlife SOS official, adding, “ Fearing for their safety, they immediately called Wildlife SOS for help.”

Two snake rescuers from the NGO rushed to the location and successfully carried out the rescue operation. As there was very little space between the bricks, the team had to exercise caution while extricating the snake with utmost care.

Soon after, they received a call about the presence of a snake inside agarment factory located in the Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) area, Bawana. A staff memberstumbled upon something rather unusual on the basement floor and it wasn't long beforehe realised it was in fact a freshly moulted snake skin!The Wildlife SOS team carefully scoured the room and eventually found a cobra amidst a pile of storage boxes.

Harvinder Singh, who called Wildlife SOS said, “One of my employees found a snake skin on the floor which only meant that there was an actual snake somewhere in the room. A friend directed us to the Wildlife SOS helpline and their team carefully carried out the rescue.”

Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder & CEO of Wildlife SOS said, “Cobras seldom bite, but will give out a warning sign by displaying their hood. They use their venom primarily to hunt prey like rats, mice and frogs. People get accidentally bitten only when they step on the snake or an untrained person attempts to catch or handle these snakes. Dealing with venomous snakes can be quite challenging but our team is trained to handle and carry out such sensitive operations”

WasimAkram, Manager Wildlife SOS Special Projects said”We are glad to see people adopting a more sensitised approach towards these largely misunderstood reptiles and that instead of taking matters into their own hands, they contacted Wildlife SOS for assistance.”

Both cobras arecurrently under observation and will soon be released back in their natural habitat.