26yrs of struggle: County's first snake farm gets recognition

A snake farm in Patuakhali that officials describe as the country’s first venom-producing one has been registered, 26 years after its owner began his struggle.

The farm, named “Bangladesh Snake Venom”, stands at the entrance of Biswasbari in Nandipara area of Patuakhali Sadar upazila. It was set up to collect and process snake venom for commercial purposes. The Department of Livestock Services hopes it will create new entrepreneurs and strengthen the pharmaceutical industry.

More than 300 snakes are raised there in cages. They include king cobra, krait, black cobra, khoiya cobra, python and rat snake (darash).

The farm has also become a mini tourist spot. Curious people crowd in every day from far-off places.

Abu Taha, a class eight student from Khalisakhali, said it felt like being in a zoo. Md Humayun from Barishal said he had seen the farm on Facebook and stopped by on his way to Kuakata. “I saw snake eggs for the first time in my life. A snake was guarding them and incubating them,” he said.

The man behind the initiative is Abdur Razzak Biswas, who worked in Saudi Arabia. He said his journey began in early 2000, when he visited his maternal aunt’s house in Nandipara before returning abroad.

“I saw an abandoned room and said, ‘There is a snake inside.’ Everyone laughed. But I was not wrong. We dug up the mud house and recovered one snake and 24 eggs. Our dream began with those,” he said.

He then spent several years researching one species after another. Each has different habits and a different type of venom. “I failed with some snakes and did not breed those further,” he said.

The farm now has more than 250 adult snakes. Including the young, the number is above 300. Snakes are laying eggs in the cages, and the eggs are hatched through a scientific process.

Razzak said the journey has not been smooth. Under an order of the district livestock officer and the conditions of a gazette, the farm has been proposed to move to another suitable place. “But we cannot shift it because of a severe financial crisis and continuous rain,” he said.

He called for government support and easy bank loans. “Then I can quickly expand this promising project,” he said.

Locals are proud of the farm. Farm workers rush to rescue snakes whenever news comes from nearby areas. Neighbour Golam Rasul said the farm has made the area better known. “When we go somewhere far, people say, ‘The man from the snake area has come.’ It feels good to hear,” he said.

Md Habibur Rahman, Patuakhali district livestock officer, said Razzak has set a unique example. The farm was recently registered with the Department of Livestock Services.

“I believe it is the first full-fledged snake farm in Bangladesh capable of producing venom,” he said.

He said the project, if implemented successfully, will meet the long-standing domestic demand for snake venom in the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. It will also help create young entrepreneurs.

-EM/SA