The Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association and the Forest Department's Wildlife Crime Control Unit have rescued six deadly venomous cobras from the Gulistan area of the capital. Five of them are Indian cobras (locally khoiya gokhra) and one is a monocled cobra (padma gokhra).

The snakes were recovered in a joint operation at the Fulbaria bus stand area of Gulistan early on Friday, 7 August. One person was detained on charges of carrying them.

Adnan Azad, convener of the Bangladesh Animal Welfare Association, said the operation followed a tip-off. The detained man had brought the snakes from Chandpur to Dhaka by launch in six plastic bags, in a very risky way. They were brought to the capital to be sold to the owner of an illegal snake farm.

Adnan Azad said the plastic bags could have torn at any moment, letting the snakes loose on the launch and putting many lives at risk.

The team was completing the process of filing a case at Shahbagh police station against the detained man. Once the legal process is over, the rescued cobras will be released in a deep forest far from human settlements, the team said.

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