SAVING SNAKESA BIO-KEN REPTILE CONSERVATION INITIATIVE.

By Royjan Taylor - Director, Bio-Ken Snake Farm, Watamu.

WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO SAVE...

FUZZY, SWEET, ADORABLE , LOVELY ...ETC..

WHAT WE WANT PEOPLE TO SAVE...

Bio-Ken

THE MJINGA FORMULA

NO SNAKES = NO SNAKEBITE

Why not kill all our snakes?

RATS - Rats have litters of 6-12 young, which are born 21-23 days after mating. - They reach reproductive maturity in about 3 months. - The average female has 4-6 litters per year. --With an average life span of 18 months, one pair can produce a colony of 2,000 rats in a year.

black-rat.jpg

HOW BAD IS THE RAT BREEDING PROBLEM

It is estimated that Worldwide, 3.5 million rats are born every day.

WHAT DO ALL THESE RATS EAT

It's estimated that total crop losses caused by rodents, mostly rats, each year would be enough to feed 200 million people, nearly as many as the population of Indonesia.

THE BLACK RAT Rattus rattusalso known as the sewerage rat, ship rat, the roof rat, the rice field rat, and the bamboo rat.

- In Pakistan, rats consume several million tons of stored wheat grain annually. - In Bangladesh losses of grain stored inside houses are estimated at US$620 million a year, in houses only. - In India, rats outnumber humans ten-fold.

AND IN AFRICA?

Africa also suffers. In Tanzania, rats can eat more than 80% of the planted maize seeds in an area. During bad years rats have wiped out hundreds of square kilometres of maize, the country's staple crop, destroying 50% of the crop or more. All the African countries suffer like this including many parts of Kenya. - We need more data

RATS - THEY ARE VERY REAL

EVEN AT HOME

Everyone has problems with Rats.

- EAT OUR FOOD- CARRY DISEASES

RATS AND DISEASES

Rats also pose severe health risks. Food contamination is just the beginning.

It was the black rat of East Asia that brought the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) to Europe, killing a third of the population.

Plague is still a problem throughout the world today, with annual outbreaks in parts of Africa that kill hundreds of people.

Saving Snakes

THEREFORE..

Why not kill ONLY OUR VENOMOUS snakes?

Speckled Sand Snake Psammophis punctulatus trivirgatus

SMALL SNAKES = SMALL FOOD, RELATIVE TO SIZE OF SNAKE

GALANA

THE VENOMOUS SNAKES ARE NATURES RAT EATING MACHINES

THE REALITYWHAT WE ARE SEEING

WHILE THIS WHAT WE WANT TO SEESOME ENTHUSIASM

SOME GET VERY ENTHUSIASTIC

WHILE SOME GET TOO ENTHUSIASTIC

WE DON'T WANT TO SEE THISANY MORE - THE PANGA JOB

AND WHAT WE WANT TO SEE KINDNESS AND COMPASSION

Venomous Snakes - Released in an appropriate place

Saving Snakeswith KWS

What we want to happen...

Saving snakes from being killed...

KWS involvement

...

Saving SnakesNOT JUST SNAKES

Related.......Local Ocean Trust:Watamu Turtle Watch

TORTOISES

LIZARDS

CROCS

Saving Snakes

Our Goals, and How to Get InvolvedPlease help to spread the word:● Saving Snakes on our Blog● Follow us via Social Media... Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube

Link from your website to ours...

Typical Costs Include:● Snake finders fee● Return transport of snake handler to scene● Reptile care and husbandry

Bio-Ken Watamu has saved over 1,000 snakes in the last 5 years....A good start but a tiny percentage of the amount that are needlessly killed in our region.

WISH LIST

PARTNERS

Regional Saving Snakes partners who have access to transport, and funds required to carry out the work of Saving Snakes.

Partners have been identified in Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. We are currently sourcing more 'outreach' partners.

SPONSORSHIPDonations, both financial and in kind.

We are looking for sponsors to join us in this conservation campaign, and are working on a number of sponsorship packages, from Title Sponsor, through to adopting reptiles, and other ways to contribute.

SAVING SNAKES

THE INITIATIVE

Bio-Ken's 'Savings Snakes' conservation initiative aims to reduce the number of snakes needlessly killed. The program has been running for many years in Watamu.

We hope to expand Saving Snakes to cover the Sub-Saharan region within 5 years through education, awareness and sponsor partnerships.

EDUCATION - THE WAY TO GO

LEWA W. C. Bio-Ken

THANK YOU

KAKAMEGA

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT