The Democratic Republic of Congo makes headlines for war, conflict and Ebola. But close to one and a half lakh (150,000) people in the country die of snakebite every year.

Forest covers the country's borders and a huge part of its interior, and in these deep forests a death trap is growing day by day. The jungles are home to vast numbers of venomous snakes. Every year many people are injured or killed by snakebite, which the World Health Organization and Medecins Sans Frontieres have described as a "neglected crisis" in Africa.

Recently, as part of the Pulitzer Center's crisis reporting, photographer Hugh Kinsella Cunningham went into Congo's jungles in search of the world's most venomous snakes. He photographed the many species he found there, and his camera also captured the lives of snake catchers and of people who died of snakebite while fishing.

A fisherman named Patrick lives beside the Ruki river, where his family has lived for generations. Many people in the village die of snakebite every year, so killing any snake on sight, by beating it or any other means, is normal for everyone.

But last month a venomous mamba was caught in Patrick's net, and instead of killing it he kept it.

The World Health Organization says 27 lakh (2.7 million) people in DR Congo are bitten by snakes every year and nearly one and a half lakh die. One of its reports found that many snakebite victims later had to have a hand or leg amputated.

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.