Reptiles

800 snakes rescued in Hyderabad in 2012

Hyderabad: R Sushma, a resident of Ayodhya Nagar in Balapur, had a panic attack on Monday evening, induced by the sight of a nine-foot long cobra slithering away in a corner of her compound. The petrified woman raised an alarm and alerted her neighbours who had the presence of mind to immediately buzz the Friends of Snake Society Club. The five-year-old male cobra was rescued soon enough much to the relief of Sushma and her neighbours. This isnt an isolated incident of venomous snakes making their way into the concrete jungle that is the city.

On an average, we get seven to 10 such calls every day from different parts of the city. A good number of calls are made by residents on the outskirts of the city. This is happening because of the simple fact that we are encroaching upon forest land and the snakes have no option but to stray into residential areas, explains Avinash Vishwanathan, joint secretary, Friends of Snakes Society Club. Since June 1, the number of calls has increased as due to the change in weather, snakes too come out to find a cool, dark place to hide.

The club has rescued as many as 800 snakes in the twin cities so far this year. The snakes commonly found in the GHMC limits are of six types. The problem, however, is that some of them are venomous. In fact, around 55 per cent of the snakes rescued in the last couple of

12:57 PM, Jul 11, 2012

A fifth of world's life at extinction risk

by IANS

Nagoya (Japan): A fifth of the world's mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fishes are in imminent danger of going extinct, says this year's edition of the benchmark IUCN Red List. The percentages of threatened invertebrates and plants are similar. Releasing the findings at the Oct 18-29 UN biodiversity summit, being attended by 192 countries, here Wednesday, Simon Stuart, chair of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation...

11:22 AM, Oct 27, 2010