While people his age scrolled through their phones, this young man was solving human-snake conflicts all across Mumbai .
Category
🐳
AnimalsTranscript
00:00In some areas, people had written my number and behind my number, they had written,
00:08Wo sapwala ladka.
00:14Kyauda aggressive hai, kyauda aggressive hai?
00:15Addiction hai.
00:16Like, I feel satisfied holding a snake.
00:19Yeah, so he had a small abscess here also.
00:22That's probably a...
00:23Whoa!
00:25People think that snake rescue is cool and fun,
00:27but they don't understand that it's a life-threatening task.
00:57Let's go.
01:01Saap dikh raha hai unko.
01:03So, let's go and check which snake it is.
01:13A rapidly expanding human population has led to a rise in human-snake conflicts.
01:19In Mumbai alone, hundreds of snake rescue calls pour in every month.
01:24Raj Zadav is a young wildlife rescuer who has dedicated himself to this risky work.
01:30I spent two days in Are Colony with Zadav to see what exactly it takes
01:34to protect this potentially dangerous species.
01:54Do you want me to move it?
01:55No, no.
01:56Yes, do it now.
01:58Do it now.
02:00Oh, f**k!
02:02Leave it, leave it, leave it.
02:03Leave it, leave it, leave it.
02:04It's stuck.
02:05Wait, wait, wait.
02:06It's coming from the gutter.
02:07Wait.
02:08Wait for two minutes.
02:09Don't pull it, don't pull it.
02:10It's here, Raj.
02:11It's here.
02:12It's on this side, Raj.
02:13Yes, yes.
02:14Wait for two minutes.
02:15It's stuck.
02:20It's very aggressive.
02:21It's very aggressive.
02:22It's very aggressive.
02:24It's very aggressive.
02:37Just move this side.
02:38Just move this side.
02:40It's so aggressive.
02:41It's so aggressive.
02:44It's very aggressive.
02:53My first rescue was a rat snake.
02:59The rat snake was in my hand
03:01and my hand was shaking and shivering.
03:04And I was holding it by the bag.
03:07That moment was very...
03:09And now, it's not like that.
03:11Now, I'm very stable.
03:14I'm very calm when rescuing people.
03:16Sometimes, what happens is
03:18I see so many parts of a snake's body
03:22and I have to identify which snake it is.
03:26Is it venomous or is it non-venomous?
03:28I have to identify its scales.
03:30I have to identify its body size.
03:32I have to identify its color.
03:34There are patterns of snakes.
03:38I'll give you some information about snakes.
03:40This snake is called the Indian rat snake.
03:42I'll give you some information about snakes.
03:44This snake is called the Indian rat snake.
03:46In Marathi, it's called dhaman.
03:48This snake can grow up to 12 feet.
03:50Pandra actually
03:52poops on me for any defense.
03:57He pooped on my body.
04:00Rescue is simple.
04:02But it's very difficult to take care of the people
04:05who are on the location.
04:08Because people come forward with their phones
04:11and take photos of us.
04:13If we're afraid of a venomous species,
04:15we can bite people.
04:17Instead of rescuing a snake,
04:19we have to control people.
04:21That's a little challenging.
04:23Zadav used to rescue snakes unofficially.
04:25But now he's linked up with a wildlife rescue NGO.
04:29And since then, he's been getting calls
04:31from all across Mumbai.
04:35This is our bike, which our NGO has given us
04:38for attending the rescue calls.
04:52Because snakes are territorial,
04:54it's important to release them
04:56close to the place where they were rescued from.
04:58It's an addiction.
05:00I feel satisfied holding a snake.
05:02When I hold a snake in my hands,
05:04I feel very satisfied.
05:07I don't think so it is a negative addiction.
05:10Because it is helping our environment.
05:14So how can it be a negative addiction?
05:16It's positive, right?
05:23Zadav is studying botany and zoology,
05:26and he's keen to make this his career.
05:28But the 24-hour nature of the job
05:30has already started to take its toll.
05:32The teenage years have taught him
05:35The teenager hardly has time for friends
05:37or even studies.
06:05I feel happy that I'm doing something
06:07that no one else is doing.
06:35If I'm late, anything can happen.
06:43We told him in the beginning
06:45that our situation is such
06:47that we need a source of income.
06:49But later he understood
06:51that it's not a good idea
06:53because he's been interested in this
06:55since he was a child.
06:58In August 2021,
07:00Zadav responded to a distress call
07:02for an injured Indian rock python.
07:05The rock python is one of India's
07:07largest non-venomous snakes.
07:27It fell while climbing.
07:29It's set in a film city.
07:31Monkeys attacked it.
07:33It had a tick infection.
07:35It had a lot of ticks on its body.
07:43Zadav did more than just rescue the snake.
07:45When he saw its condition,
07:47he took the python to a wildlife doctor
07:49in the city to nurse it back to health.
07:57There's one more layer left.
08:28Basically electrolytes
08:30because he hasn't eaten in a while.
08:32And when he came to us,
08:34he was extremely dehydrated.
08:36It goes under the skin
08:38and then it gets absorbed in the blood.
08:44He had a small abscess here also.
08:46That's probably a...
08:48They don't like the colour.
09:18But we also save a life.