COMMON POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA - A REVIEW
Sourabh Sulabh and Pushp Raj Shivahre*
Abstract
Among the creatures on Earth, snakes surely are the most widely
feared and avoided. In India, particularly, they should be among the
most widely respected and appreciated, because they do essential job
of rodent control; so that the government introduced a ban on trade in
snake skins. There are about 236 species of snakes in India, most of
which are nonpoisonous. Their bites, apart from causing panic reaction
and local injury, do not kill or even harm the patient. But 13 known
species among them are poisonous and of these four, namely common
cobra (Naja naja), common krait (Bungarus caeruleus), Russell’s viper
(Dabiola russelii) and saw-scaled viper (Echis carinatus) are highly
venomous and believed to be responsible for most of the poisonous bites in India. In the
whole of India, with its near-1.2 billion population, of the approximately one million people
bitten by snakes each year and only 1 in 20 dies. Even those figures don’t represent the
tangible threat, because a fair percentage of people die more from fear and conviction that
they will die than from the venom itself. Bites from a venomous snake can produce a number
of symptoms which includes swelling and localized pain and can become extended upto
convulsions, vomiting, and even paralysis. First aid steps one can take after a snake bite
occurs include cleaning the wound, not making any rapid body movement, remaining calm
and immobilizing the affected area.
Keywords: Bite, management, snake, venom.
[Full Text Article]