By Morshadur Rahman
 
DHAKA, June 29, 2024 (BSS) - Experts urged all not to pay heed to
misinformation over Russell's viper, one of the most venomous snakes, as the
nearly extinct species of the snake was spotted in some districts in the
country.

"Prevalence history of Russell's viper is very old in Bangladesh. Russell's
viper (locally known as Chandraboroa) was seen hardly in any districts till
2013," wildlife and snake expert Abu Saeed told BSS today.

"In Bangladesh, there are around 119 snake species. Of them, eighty percent
of snakes are nonpoisonous," he added.

Narrating prevalence history of Russell's viper, Abu Saeed, who won
Bangabandhu Award for Wildlife Conservation-2023, said Russell's viper was
found in Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna regions in a very limited scale before
2002.

Two Russell's vipers were found and killed in Rajshahi University in 2002 and
these are conserved at the Zoology department, the wildlife expert said,
adding "The first incident of Russell's viper's bite was reported on March
13, 2013 in Nachol upazila of Chapainawabganj district."

The victim was admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College and two weeks later
he died, Abu Saeed.

Although a significant number of people are bitten by different species of
snakes and many of them die from snakebite every year in the country, he
asserted.
 
The most venomous species of snakes -- Karait and Cobra - - are living across
the country and these two species of snake are the most poisonous ones
compared to the Russell's viper, Abu Saeed added.

Since 2013, prevalence rate of Russell's viper has increased sharply in
Bangladesh due to human-induced intervention, the award winning wildlife
expert said.

"Natural predators like mongoose, monitor lizard, forest cat, eagle and crane
help control the viper population. The killing of these predators has
contributed to an increase in viper numbers," he added.

In several districts, fear of Russell's viper has led to erroneous killing of
other snakes, Abu Saeed said and attributed the incident to misinformation on
social media.

"There is a lot of misinformation circulating on social media on Russell's
viper, which led people killing the python snake.

The expert focused on maintaining ecological balance, urging the people to
refrain from killing of wildlife, which survive by eating eggs of snakes.
 
Abu Saeed said, "Till now, there is no comprehensive study on snakes in the
country . . . despite a significant number of people die each year because of
snake bites in the country, but this critical issue is still neglected."

He called upon all relevant organizations, ministries and non-government
organizations to work together to handle the challenges of sharp rise of
Russell's viper.

Dr. Ahmedul Kabir, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of
Health Services (DGHS), said there are adequate amounts of anti-venom at all
public hospitals to treat the victims bite by Russell's Viper, the highly
venomous snake.
 
"The most important task is to take snakebite victims to a doctor at the
quickest possible time . . . timely medical intervention can fully cure
snakebite victims through proper treatment," he added.

The DGHS official said, "Anti-venoms are available at all public hospitals
including upazila level hospital and heath complexes at union level. Our
doctors and healthcare workers are skilled enough to treat snake bite
victims."

According to the DGHS, around 4.03 lakh people are bitten by snakes every
year in Bangladesh, and 7,511 of them die of snake bites.