Wildlife SOS busy rescuing wildlife with arrival of monsoon

A five-foot rat snake was found in a living room of a house at Agra's Dayalbagh, around the same time a nearly four-foot monitor lizard created quite a panic at a park in Awas Vikas.

Both reptiles were rescued by a rapid response team of the Wildlife SOS and later released back in their natural habitat.

With monsoon arriving the northern part of the country, the voluntary organisation that works for the rescue and rehabilitation of wildlife has been receiving multiple calls for reptile rescue across Agra.

On Thursday afternoon, a family residing in Prem Nagar, Dayalbagh, found a rat snake under a cupboard in their living room.

As the space under the cupboard was not very wide, it was difficult to catch the snake without alarming it.

Though nonvenomous, the rat snake is quick, easily excitable and may bite if threatened.

Therefore, the rescuers had to be cautious while approaching the snake as they did not want to alarm it.

Dr Ashok Kumar Sinha, a retired professor, said, "My wife saw the snake making its way towards the cupboard. I immediately contacted the Wildlife SOS, who carried out the rescue operation with ease".

Around the same time, just a few kilometres away in Awas Vikas, a monitor lizard was caught in a rather distressing situation.

The four-foot giant lizard was found in the bushes near the entrance of a park.

The rescue team of the NGO worked carefully to ensure that the monitor lizard experienced minimum stress during the rescue process.

Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of the NGO said, "Most snake species are burrowing reptiles and they spend most of their time underground but during monsoon, their homes get destroyed due to flooding and they are forced to venture out into human habitations in search of rodents and lizards."