Twenty-three cobra hatchlings were rescued from a house in the City by a wildlife conservationist earlier this month.

Vallish V Kaushik, who works for the BBMP’s Forest Cell, chose the field out of passion for wildlife. He rescued the baby cobras from a house in Bhuvaneshwari Nagar, Hebbal.

A man named Muralidharan, who first spotted the snakes, was looking for help. He said he tried calling all numbers, including the veterinary hospital, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) helpline and other voluntary organisations that work for animal safety, but in vain.

“We spotted them in the morning. We were told that none could help and that we will have to take them to the Bannerghatta Biological Park on our own,” he stressed.

Later, it was with the help of a local farmer Bhaktharaj that he managed to pull out two hatchlings from the pipeline they were found in. Little did the two men know that dozens of others would follow.

“There are many snakes in the place where we live. It is not possible to look for help each time. I am habituated to catching them,” said Bhaktharaj. It took them over four hours to safely keep all the 23 baby snakes until Kaushik rescued them.

Kaushik said he would consult his seniors before deciding where to let these hatchlings. Incidentally, this 35-year-old man had a similar experience on World Environment Day last year. “I consider myself lucky as this is the second time in a row. Last year, on June 5, I happened to rescue 25 cobras from a house in Hosakerehalli,” he beamed.

Kaushik said he had decided to dedicate his life to this task “as I do it with passion”.
“Since childhood, I have taken keen interest in this endeavour. The Kannada folk song, ‘Dharanimandala’, is where I draw my inspiration from,” he added.

Kaushik said that they received 200 calls on an average each year, seeking help for snake-catching.

But this year, calls poured in much before the peak season when snakes sneak out. “It is because of the weather changes that calls poured in much before than we anticipated. Usually, it is only after June that we would hear from people. This time, it began as early as in May,” he added.