As temperatures in Nepal rise, highly venomous snakes are slithering up to higher altitudes

The Star

15-06-2025

Spotted near Mount Everest: Global warming might be leading venomous snakes to adapt and settle in higher altitudes, experts say. — SUBODH ACHARYA/The Kathmandu Post/ANN
IN the past one and a half months, 10 highly venomous snakes typically found in warmer climates – nine King Cobras and a Monocled Cobra – have been rescued from various locations in the Kathmandu Valley.
Both the snake species, common in Tarai districts, especially in the summer season, have now started to appear in the supposedly cooler hilly and mountainous areas as well.
'Locals have also found King Cobra eggs and nests in nearby jungles,' said Jaya Thapa Magar, chair of the municipality's ward.
What worries experts is that these venomous snakes are not only starting to slither into hill and mountain areas but are also adapting and settling in the regions. Global warming might be behind the phenomenon, they say.
Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis and has witnessed extreme weather events over the past decade and a half.
Evidence indicates that the maximum temperature in Nepal is rising at a greater rate (0.05°C per year) than the minimum temperature (0.03°C per year). Meterologists said that compared to the districts of the Tarai region, hilly and mountainous districts have been witnessing a faster rise in maximum temperatures.
Subodh Acharya, a snake rescue trainer from Mithila Wildlife Trust said that some of the tropical venemous snakes might have come to the Valley with the logs and hay in trucks and made their habitats there.
Acharya, who rescued all the venomous snakes – king cobras and monocled cobras – said that people should be cautious while they are in forests, as rescued venomous snakes have been released there.
Incidents of snakebite and resulting deaths are common in Tarai districts in southern Nepal during the summer.
Each year, around 2,700 people, mostly children and women from Nepal's Tarai region, die of snakebites, according to a March 2022 report published in The Lancet, a leading international medical journal.
However, snakebite cases are vastly underreported in the country.
The government has committed to reducing 50% of deaths and disabilities through snakebite envenomation by 2030, the national target aligned with the World Health Organisation's 'Snakebite Roadmap'.
Herpetologists and public health experts emphasise the urgency of raising awareness and training local health workers to meet this crucial health goal. Experts say authorities must also strengthen health infrastructures to achieve the target.
Meanwhile, many people in rural areas lack awareness and often consult shamans instead of physicians when they are bitten by a snake.
Doctors say women who go to the fields to collect fodder, farmers working in plantations or during harvest, and children who play in open areas are more vulnerable to snakebites.
Poor people living in thatched-roof houses are also highly vulnerable to snakebite, as snakes visit such homes in search of rats, their food.
Experts say there should be a greater awareness drive on keeping homes and surroundings clean, preventing children from playing in bushes, and avoiding walking outside at night. If absolutely necessary, people must use torchlights when walking in the dark.
The Health and Population Ministry said that it has expanded treatment centres to around a dozen places in the hilly regions to address the growing number of venomous snakebite cases.
Officials say they have already stockpiled the anti-snake venom and supplied it to treatment centres.
Nepal imports quadrivalent antivenom from India, which is effective against four common species of snakes found in India: the common cobra, common krait, saw-scaled viper, and Russell's viper. The saw-scaled viper has not yet been found in Nepal.
Deaths from pit viper bites in the hills and mountainous regions have also risen recently. However, the antivenom made for other venomous snakes does not treat pit viper bites. — The Kathmandu Post/ANN