Red Sand Boa Snake Rescued, Four Arrested for Smuggling | Gurgaon News – Times of India

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Gurgaon: A red sand boa was rescued from four persons who were trying to sell it in Yamunanagar. The red sand boa is a snake listed as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The accused, identified as Ram Singh, Kuldeep Sharma, Sagar, and Mohit, are all residents of Uttar Pradesh and were produced in a local court.Acting on a tip-off, a team of wildlife officials of the Haryana forest division with local police conducted a raid at the accused’s place and nabbed them with the snake.
The red sand boa is a non-venomous species endemic to India, Pakistan, and Iran. It is known for its blunt, rounded tail, which often gives it the appearance of being double-headed. Over six years, between January 2016 and December 2021, WCS-India, an NGO working on wildlife conservation, recorded 172 instances of the illegal sand boa trade across the country.
“The snake is categorized in Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protected Act 1972, which bans possession and trafficking. The snake is in high demand in the illegal market. These snakes are sold in the global market and fetch Rs 5 lakh on an average,” said Vishal Kaushik, deputy chief wildlife warden, Panchkula division.
“The red sand boa is a rare species of snake that is in high demand around the world. This is because it is used in the production of medicines, cosmetics, and in black magic. The species has a decreasing population trend in most of its habitat ranges,” wildlife officials from Haryana said.
The red sand boa is found in dry parts of the country and prefers loose soil that breaks easily, creating burrows where it spends most of its time.
It is a nocturnal species that leaves its burrow at night searching for prey. It feeds on mammals like rats, mice, and other small rodents.
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