Snakes Are Shy Animals: Myths, Snakebite First Aid and What Wildlife Law Says

In a piece published by Jagonews24 on 17 July 2026, writer Abhilash Mahmud argued that reports of snakes rise across Bangladesh in the rainy season and autumn, and with them come rumours and panic on social media. Fear and myths, he wrote, lead people to kill even harmless snakes on sight, although snakes are shy, a bite needs a hospital rather than a healer, and killing them is punishable.

Wildlife and snake specialist Md Abu Said told Prothom Alo in November 2025 that 120 snake species had been listed in Bangladesh, 35 of them venomous, including 16 species of sea snake. A national survey by NCDC of the Directorate General of Health Services, published in June 2023, found that about 400,000 people are bitten each year and 7,511 die, and that one bite in four is by a venomous snake.

The writer rejected the belief that every large snake is venomous. The large oriental rat snake (darash) is non-venomous, as are pythons, while the moderately sized common krait (kalach) is highly venomous and causes the majority of medically significant snakebites in the Indian subcontinent.

Snakes do not chase people, the writer said; they bite in self-defence when trapped, frightened or stepped on. Guidance on the Russell's viper (chandrabora) issued in June 2024 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change agreed: the snake lives in bushes, grassland and farmland, avoids settlements and blends with the soil, so it strikes out of fear when someone comes near unawares. A skilled swimmer, it has spread with river currents and floodwater, the ministry said.

At the time, Md Amir Hosain Chowdhury, chief conservator of the Forest Department, told Prothom Alo that people were killing any snake they saw, taking it for a Russell's viper.

When someone recovers from a non-venomous bite after an ojha's rituals, the writer observed, people credit the healer, and time is then lost with an ojha even after a venomous bite. The WHO South-East Asia Regional Office's snakebite guidelines (2016) call most popular first-aid methods useless or dangerous, including cutting the bite, sucking out venom, tight bands and herbs. The guidelines and the ministry advise:

• Reassure the bitten person and keep them calm.
• Keep the bitten limb still.
• Do not cut or prick the wound, put anything on it or tie a tight band.
• Skip the ojha or kabiraj; go to hospital without delay.

The ministry said Russell's viper antivenom is free at the nearest government hospital; WHO calls antivenom the only effective antidote, given by doctors. On seeing a snake, move away, do not try to catch or kill it, and call the national helpline 333 or the nearest forest office, the ministry advised.

Snakes help farmers by eating rats, the writer said; Abu Said likewise said they raise crop output by eating harmful insects and rats. In the writer's view, deforestation, filled-in rivers, heavy pesticide use and habitat loss drive snakes into villages.

The piece's headline said killing a snake could bring seven years in jail and a Tk 10 lakh fine. The law in force then was the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2026, dated 10 April 2026 and deemed effective from 7 January 2026, which repealed the 2012 Act. It defines hunting as killing, capturing, poisoning or injuring a wild animal, or destroying reptile nests or eggs. Its penalty of two to seven years' imprisonment and a fine of Tk 1 lakh to Tk 10 lakh is for hunting a tiger or elephant listed in Schedule 1(a). For other scheduled wildlife the penalty depends on the schedule:

• Schedule 1(b): up to three years in prison, a fine of up to Tk 3 lakh, or both.
• Schedule 1(c): up to two years, a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh, or both.
• Schedule 2, without a licence or permit: up to one year, a fine of up to Tk 1 lakh, or both.
• Repeat offences carry higher penalties.

The writer's appeal: keep a safe distance and call trained rescuers or the Forest Department.

Photo: Abhinav Chawla (AChawla) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2026 (Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, Ministry of Law), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Prothom Alo (22 June 2024), Prothom Alo (8 November 2025), The Business Standard (18 June 2023), WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia (2016), Wikipedia