Kamal Devkota and his team celebrated World Wildlife Day 2019 in Kawasoti, Nawalpur district of Nepal, to raise awareness about the benefits that conservation provides to people. The awareness program was organized by Kaligandaki Hospital, Kawasoti and supported by Nepal Toxinology Association (NTA) and Save The Snakes (STS).
This year for World Wildlife Day, Kamal and his team focused on one of the most beautiful and valuable animals in our ecosystem, snakes. Snakes play an important role in the ecosystem, like many other faunas, and they contribute to the ecological, medical, religious, cultural, educational, recreational and aesthetic well-being of humans. Unfortunately, most people kill snakes as soon as they spot them because they have a fear of getting bitten and there is a general lack of awareness.
The World Wildlife Day educational awareness program was a great success with more than 130 participants present. The participants were students from different health faculties like Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives (ANM), Community Medical Assistants (CMA), Lab technicians, JTA and their respective teachers were also present. Dr. Chhabilal Thapa, President of Nepal Toxinology Association (NTA) and Dr. Amod Ghimire presented their work on the symptoms and treatment of snakebites. Conservation biologist, Mr. Kamal Devkota, shed light on the importance of snake conservation to biodiversity and ecosystems. He also shared some of his experiences from the “Save Snakes Save Nature” campaign in the Rupandehi district. World Wildlife Day is a great day for creating awareness, especially about snakes. The success of awareness programs like this allow us to educate and make a positive difference.