Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): In its first step towards conducting a snake census in the state, as per Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s wish, the Forest Department has communicated with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), seeking guidance on how to proceed.
The WII is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
When contacted, Additional Chief Secretary of the Forest Department, Ashok Barnwal, said, “We have contacted the WII over the issue and are waiting for its response.”
He admitted that so far, nowhere in the world has a snake census been conducted. So, if it happens here, Madhya Pradesh would be the first state to do so.
Another senior officer of the forest department said that if done, counting will be done randomly by covering sporadic areas, and it will not be done in the entire state.
It was during a national-level workshop on Forest Conservation and Climate Resilient Livelihood that the CM had pitched for a snake census like that of any other wild animal.
He raised the demand in the presence of the Union Minister for EFCC, Bhupendra Yadav. He was of the view that snake census will also help in containing snake bite cases.
However, wildlife experts are not too upbeat about such a census, saying they cannot fathom how snakes can be counted even in isolated areas as they mostly live in holes deep inside the earth. Hence, there’s curiosity over the methodology the Dehradun-based WII might suggest.
Former Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, J.S. Chouhan, said, “The population estimation of snakes has never been done in the past. I am not aware of any technique to estimate the number ofsnakes statewide. I think it will be in the fitness of things to wait for the guidance from the WII and see what they have to say.”
