KARACHI, Aug 24: Though no longer as popular as a decade ago, snakeskin accessories are still being manufactured and are on open sale in certain city markets. This is despite the fact that Pakistan is bound to protect all reptile species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which the country is a signatory.
A visit to Zainab Market in Saddar revealed that accessories made of snakeskin are being sold at a few select shops. The outlets had a variety of products, including purses, belts and wallets made from the skins of cobra, viper and water snakes. Their prices range from Rs200 to Rs400.
Talking about the sale of these products, a shopkeeper said: “Local residents generally don’t like such products and our main customers are foreigners visiting the city, whose number has dwindled drastically because of the deteriorating law and order situation and also because of a ban on reptile trade. Fewer foreigners come here now and, consequently, prices have fallen,” he said, adding that products which were sold for Rs400 and Rs450 earlier, were now available at Rs200 and Rs250.
Regarding the manufacture of the products, he said that the skins were brought here by jogis or snake dealers from the interior of Sindh and later processed in the city. “No large-scale business exists now. Tanning and dyeing is done at a few homes in New Karachi and Orangi Town.”
Another shopkeeper said he used to collect snakes for the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, some years back. “I had been collecting as many as 10,000 snakes for the NIH in the past on a tender. Jogis operating in the interior of Sindh did the job, but now they have developed direct contacts with the Islamabad-based laboratories,” he added. About the other uses of snakeskin, he said that the oil extracted from the reptile was used for medicinal purposes. “Oil of snake’s fat is a popular item at Empress Market or with hakims. Its purity is another matter, of course,” he said.
A likely story …
This reporter spotted a number of snake-charmers on Clifton’s streets. Though none of them admitted to selling snakes, all of them had many far-fetched stories to share when asked how they protected themselves against the poisonous snakes they were carrying in their baskets.
“Our ustad brings the snake into a ‘trance’ after which the snake loses its capability of injecting poison into us for a certain period. We have to release the snake into its habitat before the stipulated time, or else we will be putting ourselves in danger. In case of an attack, however, we have this manka, also called zehr mohra, that sucks all poison from the body,” said Mithan, a snake-charmer, while showing off a small black stone.The stone, he claimed, was obtained from the snake itself. “The ustad gives a certain liquid to the snake after which it throws up this stone.” Their mentors, however, do not offer the service of catching snakes and making them ‘impotent’ voluntarily, as some of them, after being pressed on the question, acknowledged giving an agreed amount of their earnings to the ustad. The snakes they were carrying included cobra, viper and common sand boa, which they called, da-munhi (snake with two heads). The reptiles, they claimed, were fed on milk and eggs.
Most of these snake-charmers, often accompanied by beggars belonging to the same family, wearing similar attire, were residents of Thatta, Mithi and Umerkot. In Karachi, their residential areas include Clifton near Bilawal Chowrangi, Chanesar Goth and Safoora Goth. They stay in the city for 10 to 15 days and return after collecting some money to support their families back home.
Giving information about the reptile wealth of the country, Dr Hafeez-ur-Rehman, a herpetologist who worked with the Zoological Survey of Pakistan for over 30 years, said that both Sindh and Balochistan were hot-spots for reptiles in the country.
“Balochistan is, however, richer and has remained safe from illegal trapping and poaching. Uthal, Khuzdar, Mastung, Kalat, Bolan, Kharan, Panjgur, Turbat, Mand, Dalbandin and Naukandi, all boast of a large number of reptile species, some of which are endemic. In Sindh, Nagarparkar, Mithi and Umerkot are hot-spots for snakes, besides Sanghar, Shikarpur and Nawabshah,” Dr Rehman said.
The unchecked operation of jogis, particularly in the interior of Sindh, he said, was one of the major reasons behind the declining strength of many snake species in the province, besides the loss of habitat and smuggling.
Snakes defanged
“A few pythons are left in Sindh, while they have almost become extinct in Punjab. The population of cobra and Russel viper has shrunk over the years, but we still see them because these species breed twice a year. The network of jogis, often working with the support of local landlords, is stronger in Sindh than Balochistan.”
He said Pakistan has about 74 snake species; 26 poisonous and 48 non-poisonous. About the jogis’ way of keeping themselves ‘safe’ from snake poison, he explained that they essentially pulled out the fangs of the snake, which are used to inject poison.
“Fangs are sharp, long, hollow teeth that are attached to small sacs in the snake’s head behind their eyes. These sacs produce venom when a snake bites. Only poisonous snakes have fangs and different venom produced by different snakes has a different effect on the body,” he said. “For instance, a cobra’s poison affects the nervous system, a viper’s venom affects the blood circulation while that of a krait’s attacks muscles and lungs.”
Talking about government measures to curb the snake trade, Saeed Baloch, deputy conservator of wildlife, Hyderabad division, said: “The operation of jogis has fallen over the years. This is partly because of our efforts to check their activities and also because of habitat loss. Many jogis have now turned to trapping freshwater turtles instead of snakes. Our department caught two to four such groups in Badin and Thatta last year.
“Personally, I believe that the business could only be effectively checked if the government initiates a project of promoting captive breeding of reptiles with the help of these snake charmers, who have no other source of livelihood,” he said, adding that such a project would not only help save biodiversity of a particular area, but would help the country earn precious foreign exchange.
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