By Razya Khan/ March 11, 2019 The venom itself is extracted by pressing the top of the snake’s mouth, where venom glands are located, against this lid. The mere thought of snakes is enough to send shivers down the spines of most people. For many, the reptile’s venom conjures grotesque visions of instant death. What […]
Never leave a snake wounded. So goes an old Assamese saying. Get it treated, we would say. That’s what vets at the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University did when foresters brought an injured five-and-half-feet Indian rock python. The poor reptile was out sunning this winter when a lawnmower’s blades caught it in cold blood—nicked […]
Q: What does your typical day at work look like? Maqsood: We receive snake supplies at the National Institute of Health (NIH), categorise them and make a schedule for extracting their venom, which can vary from once or twice a month for a snake. All snakes have seasonal variation, for example, you cannot extract venom when […]
A 16-foot-long python was rescued by Rescue 1122 officials from Khanpur Canal in Punjab’s Sheikhupura district in August 2018. The reptile was spotted in the canal with injuries on his head and upper jaw. Officials managed to rescue the serpent in a joint operation by Rescue 1122 and the provincial wildlife department. The python was […]
The business of catching snakes for their venom is on the rise, providing livelihood to a number of people who are ready to put their fear of the dangerous reptile aside in Pakistan. Snake catchers bring different species of the reptile from various cities in the Punjab and sell them to those who make medicines […]
The Karachi Zoo has seen the birth of 25 Russell’s vipers in a single litter, raising the number of this species to 31 at the facility. The last births in Russell’s vipers happened in 2008. The zoo lost the young ones within a few days of their birth whereas their parents survived for some years. […]
The Killers Underfoot By Matthew Lewin NYT/ April 14/ 2014 In just over a month, life-giving rains will soak India during the annual monsoons. As welcome as these rains are, they also bring with them injury and death from snakebite. As they do each year, venomous snakes seeking dry ground will slide into people’s homes, […]
by Faiza Ilyas Out of the 19 pythons handed over to the animal laboratory of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) almost a year ago by the zoo, only eight have survived at the facility. What had directly or indirectly affected the reptiles’ well-being, they said, was lack of interest on the part of […]
Usually snakes conjure up images of danger and fear but as a valuable resource for study of nature, but this impression should be dispelled and we should encourage the acceptance of snakes as part of the ecology. Snakes in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) inIslamabad were primarily nocturnal and their feeding time began around […]