Contrary to popular belief, snakes are a far bigger concern in Bangkok. Just ask the 199 emergency hotline operator. According to them, they receive a call for assistance with snakes every 15 minutes on average, and 60,000 snakes are removed annually.
The data was made public in reaction to a Bangkok resident’s online posting of a picture of a sizable boa constrictor (non-venomous species of snake) hanging from a tree in the Din Daeng district, which sparked an outpouring of support from residents of the area and beyond.
Around 200 calls each day in Bangkok are made, according to rescuers at the emergency hotline, asking for help with pests including snakes, water monitors, and wasps. The operators say that nearly half of the calls are about snakes, as reported by the Bangkok Post.
“On average, a report is made every 15 minutes throughout every 24-hour period” said an operator.
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When trapping snakes, the hotline claims a success record of over 90%, adding that the creatures are sent to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation so they can be reintroduced in suitable natural surroundings.
There hasn’t been a formal census of the snake population in Bangkok, according to Alongkorn Mahanop, a consultant for the Zoological Park Organization, thus no precise figures are available. He calculated that each district of the city likely has close to a thousand snakes, making encounters likely.
“The high population of snakes in Bangkok is due to its citizens not consuming snakes, meaning the reptiles have no direct predators in the city while having an abundance of prey such as dogs, cats and chickens,” Dr Alongkorn said.
The veterinarian claims that 90% of the snakes found in the capital are boas and the other 10% are pythons.
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