Kottayam: Vava Suresh, who earned the moniker 'The Snake-man of Kerala' for risking his own life to catch snakes straying into human-inhabited areas and releasing them into the wild, was bitten by a cobra during one of his recent missions here on Monday.
The 48-year-old was initially rushed to a private hospital in the city.
He had lost consciousness 10 minutes before reaching the hospital and his pulse had dropped to the 20s.
His condition remains critical, hospital authorities inform.
He has since been moved to Kottayam medical college hospital.
Health Minister Veena George said the State will cover Vava Suresh's medical expenses.
Minister VN Vasavan too had paid Suresh a visit at the hospital.
Cobras are highly venomous snakes.
This is not the first time Suresh is bitten by a snake.
During his long career of conservation activities, he has encountered numerous accidents.
He has been on ventilator twice and in ICU four times.
In all, he has survived more than 300 venomous snake bites.
His last incident was on 13 February 2020.
Vava Suresh's efforts to capture venomous snakes and to educate the people about snakes and their behaviour is widely acknowledged.
SARPA App in all districts
SARPA App, which is meant to streamline the catching of snakes, is functional in all districts. When you find out snakes, you can inform the Forest Department through this App. The snake rescuer will come to the place, catch the snake and then release the snake in the interiors of a forest.
While seeing a snake, you can send its photo and the details of the place where it is hiding to the App. The rescuer will reach the spot after identifying the location given in the message through the App.
The Forest Department had earlier given training to a select number of the public and the forest department staff on how to catch snakes. As many as 43 people got this training in the district.
The public will not have to pay any money to the Forest Department for using this service. Anyone can give information on snakes to SARPA App after downloading it from the play store. KM Abhish (Mob number: 8943249386) is the Kottayam district coordinator of SARPA App.
