A cobra and a rat snake have been released into Satchari National Park in Habiganj. On the morning of Monday, 13 July, Robi Costa, a district member of the Bangladesh Biodiversity Conservation Federation, released the two rescued snakes into their natural habitat in the presence of the Forest Department.

Present were Md Mahmud Hasan, range officer of the Habiganj Wildlife Range, Md Mobarak Hasan, range officer of the Satchari Wildlife Range, and other Forest Department officials.

"The rat snake is a friend of the farmer. It eats large numbers of rats and plays an important role in protecting crops. So no snake should be killed without reason," said range officer Md Mahmud Hasan.

Robi Costa said: "Floods and continuous rain have damaged the snakes' natural habitat, so they are moving into human settlements. This causes panic among people, but snakes are extremely important for the environment and need to be conserved."

He said the two snakes had taken shelter on Sunday in the house of Rumel Banerjee, a resident of Amtali tea estate in Chunarughat upazila. On receiving the news, he went there quickly and rescued both snakes unharmed. They were released into Satchari National Park on Monday with the help of the Forest Department.

The Forest Department urged the public not to panic or kill a snake when they see one, but to contact the Forest Department or trained rescuers promptly.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.