World Snake Day: Why is India still the snake bite capital of the world?
b'July 16 is World Snake Day. When you have a day dedicated to something, it typically denotes a call to care for, or draw attention to, the welfare of the entity to which the day is dedicated. That\\u2019s how it is with Father\\u2019s Day, Mother\\u2019s Day and so on. But with World Snake Day, things get a little complicated, as the first thing that comes to mind when you mention \\u2018snakes\\u2019 is the fear of snake bites, and the fact that India is the snake-bite capital of the world. So we tend to forget that snakes are also part of wildlife, and discussions about the importance conserving snake species tends to take a backseat.\\nIt is estimated that out of the 78,000-100,000 snake bites that occur every year globally, the vast majority \\u2013 about 64,000 \\u2013 happen in India. The snake bite is a public health issue in India. At the same time, it is a marker of high human-snake conflict. In this episode, on the eve of World Snake Day, we take a closer look at the human-snake conflict, what has India been doing to bring down snake-bite fatalities, what role snakes play in India\\u2019s bio-diversity and why they need to be protected.\\nWe speak with Sumanth Bindumadhav, Director of the Wildlife Department at Humane Society International, India.'