Kerala woman forest officer rescues her first king cobra in six minutes

Thiruvananthapuram: Beat Forest Officer G S Roshni, who has rescued over 800 venomous and non-poisonous snakes in her nearly eight-year-long career in the Kerala Forest Department, took only a few minutes to bag a 14-15 feet long king cobra — her first one — from a stream near Peppara here on Sunday.

Her courageous efforts received criticism and praise from the online community following the airing of a video of the rescue on TV channels.

One person commented in the video that women who get scared by lizards and cockroaches should learn from her.

Another person said — “Big salute ma’am. I don’t see anyone standing with her, offering to hold the bag or help her. Everyone is sitting in the gallery and commenting…”, referring to others present at the scene whose voices of advise could be heard in the background in the video.

Besides the praise, there was some criticism too, with one comment stating that there were “several mistakes” on her part and advising her to be careful.

Yet another person advised her to handle such tasks more carefully as she was “inexperienced” and it was dangerous work.

Muralee Thummarukudy, Director, G20 Global Land Initiative Initiative, UNCCD, too commented about the forest officer’s efforts.

In a Facebook post, he said that he has more respect for the officer after coming to know that it was her first time rescuing a king cobra.

At the same time, he also said that her “inexperience” was evident from the fact that the tools she was holding kept falling out of her hands while dealing with the snake. “Despite that, her confidence does not go away,” he said.

He also noted that no one in the Forest department has been seen using the minimum personal protective equipment required when handling venomous snakes.

The Forest Department should decide what is the minimum personal protective equipment required, make it available as part of the training, and conduct training using it, he said.

“Personal protective equipment is not for those who are less courageous or trained, but for everyone who has knowledge and responsibility,” he said in his post.

Roshni was part of a five-member Rapid Response Team (RRT) which reached the forest-fringe area of Anchumaruthumoodu to rescue the snake after locals found the reptile near the stream where many go to bathe.

The visuals of the rescue on TV channels showed how the officer on her own, carrying a long stick with a curve on one end and long bag, caught hold of the snake’s tail and then coaxed it into the bag — all in six minutes.

At one point, she could be heard saying “please” to the snake as she kept the mouth of the bag open in front of it, but it refused to cooperate and tried to slither away. After a few such attempts, she bagged the snake which weighed around 20 kilograms.

“It was a mature snake. It was about 14-15 feet long and weighed approximately 20 kgs,” she told PTI, adding that king cobras are rarely seen in the southern Kerala district — probably why it is her first rescue of that species.

Roshni said that the snake was caught around 12.30 pm and then released into the deep forest.