Raipur Forest Division Books Snake Charmer, Following PETA India Complaint

For Immediate Release:

20 September 2024

Contact:

Hiraj Laljani; [email protected]

Sanskriti Bansore; [email protected]

Raipur – After receiving a video from a whistleblower of a cobra being held captive in a small wicker basket by a snake charmer in Shivanand Nagar, Raipur, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India worked with local volunteers Prakash Baghel and Tushar Kundey to get a preliminary offence report (POR) registered for the illegal possession, exhibition, and use of a cobra. Cobras are protected under Part C of Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972, and capturing, possessing, or injuring them is a non-bailable offence, punishable by a jail term of at least three years – but which may be extended to seven years – and a fine of at least Rs 25,000.

The Raipur forest division registered the POR against the snake charmer for the above-mentioned offences under sections 39, 43, 49(c), 50, and 58(c) of the WPA, 1972. The snake was confiscated by the forest department and sent for care and rehabilitation at a wildlife conservation facility in Raipur that provides a species-specific environment.

Videos of the snake and copy of the POR are available upon request.

“The best way to revere snakes is to leave them alone in their jungle homes. Using snakes in roadside shows is cruel, illegal, and disrespectful,” says PETA India Manager of Vegan Projects Dr Kiran Ahuja. “PETA India urges the public to report any capture or use of snakes to their local forest department.”

Snakes are trapped and taken from their natural habitats by snake charmers in disregard of the WPA, 1972. Their teeth are often violently yanked out and their venom glands emptied by painfully squeezing the muscles on their head, and in many cases, their mouths are sewn shut, leaving only a small gap into which water or milk can be poured. They’re then taken to cities to be used in cruel performances. The “dance” that snakes perform is actually a fearful reaction to the charmer’s pipe, which the animals perceive as a threat. Captured snakes do not live very long, and their death is slow and painful.

Snakes are fascinating animals who can learn and communicate through body language. Pythons protect their young, and king cobras make nests for their eggs. Rather than exploring lush jungles and swamps and living free as they should, captive snakes are typically relegated to small, dark boxes or tanks where they can’t even stretch out to full length.

PETA India – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETAIndia.com or follow the group on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

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