India: Snake rescuers celebrated World Snake Day 2020 by feeding the reptiles cake, and forest officers are not happy

One does not imagine celebrating World Snake Day 2020 (July 16) by feeding cake to the reptiles, but, that is exactly what some snake rescuers in the Indian state of Jharkhand did. The viral video of the ceremony has gotten netizens and forest officials to express their concerns over the “foolish act”.

World Snake Day is an annual celebration, when snake rescuers and environmentalists spread awareness about the reptiles.

However, this year, a bizarre video of a number of people cutting cake, and feeding it to snakes was shared on Twitter by user @tweetsvirat. He wrote: “To celebrate #WorldSnakeDay2020 they cut a cake and even fed some to the snake, and were so happy about it. If these are snake rescuers then they are more dangerous for snakes. This video which is viral seems to be from Jharkhand…”

He also tagged several Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in the post.

The clip soon triggered netizens to react.

IFS officer Ramesh Pandey, @rameshpandeyifs, retweeted the viral video and wrote about the importance of handling animals properly, and educating the public.

“This shows the importance of serious conservation education needed [for] any society. After working both in in-situ and ex-situ conservation fields, I feel this is where zoos and safaris play a pivotal role in inculcating a righteous approach towards nature and wildlife, in youth,” he wrote in the caption.

Whereas, IFS officer Saket Badola called the act “foolish”.

He wrote: “Kindly let me know if you find more details. I will take this up [with] the PCCF (Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife) Jharkhand. This is foolish, and need to stop.”

Twitter user @yashdabholkar posted: “I just hope that we find these ‘rescuers’ and rescue those snakes.”