An environment enthusiast in south Assam’s Silchar has rescued five rare species of snake from the possession of a snake charmer.
Sumit Nath recovered the five serpents from a snake charmer who was found to be demonstrating the trade at a local market in Irongmara near Assam University on Sunday.
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“When I was going from my CTET examination, I saw a crowd gazing at the demonstration by the snake charmer. A closer look into the baskets revealed that the charmer had brought species of short-nosed vine snake, ornate flying snake, brown vine snake, red sand boa and spectacled cobra,” Nath said.
“The charmer was caught napping regarding the rules under the Wildlife Act as he fled the spot in no time,” he said.
Cachar Divisional Forest Officer Sunnydeo Choudhury said that steps are being taken to trace out the absconding snake charmer.
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He added to say that people vigilant on such issues have informed the Forest Department and helped to rescue the wild creatures.
Environmentalist Parthankar Choudhury said while the first two snakes are locally found, the rest three are non-native to Northeast, and therefore, if released locally, might not be able to survive.
He said that the Minister of Environment and Forest Parimal Suklabaidya was briefed about the developments and requested to help translocate three of the recovered snakes to the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden in Guwahati.