Recently, the HEAL team responded to an urgent call from Baikuntapur village in Kultali, Sundarbans. A Monocled Cobra had become trapped inside a fishing gear in the fields.

Villagers said the snake had been stuck for quite a few days, but they were afraid to go near it. The Monocled Cobra is highly venomous and can eject venom accurately when threatened. Their decision to keep a distance and inform the rescue team likely prevented serious injury.

Our team reached within 20 minutes, carefully freed the cobra from the fishing gear, and released it safely back into the wild.

When we asked why they hadn’t called earlier, the villagers said:

“Earlier, when a snake got trapped like this, we would just kill it. But recently we saw the hoardings put up by HEAL in our village — about snake identification, safety do’s and don’ts, and the numbers to call if a snake was seen in human habitations. So we remembered and called you.”

These awareness hoardings, installed with support from the Upadhyaya Foundation, helped save a life today — and protected the community as well.

This rescue is a simple but powerful reminder: Awareness leads to action. Action leads to peaceful coexistence.