Viral Video Shows Irula Tribe Member Extracting Snake Venom To Save Lives

There are a few souls in the world who live with no fear, and this man is the perfect example of the same. A video that has now gone viral on social media shows a man extracting snake venom to make the antidote.

Irula tribe member extracts snake venom

However, there is more to the story. The man in the video is a member of the Irula tribe, an ethnic group in Tamil Nadu, who has acquired special permission from the government to extract snake venom and use it for medicinal purposes.

Screengrab/Twitter

In the now-viral video, a man in Kancheepuram is seen holding a Russell¡¯s viper snake with his bare hands to extract its venom in a glass beaker after the reptile latches onto it. The man, ever so nonchalantly, does the job without harming the snake.

The video was shared by IAS officer Supriya Sahu on Twitter.

Nothing less than fascinating to see Irula tribes extracting snake venom from snakes like Cobra,Russell's viper,Krait etc without harming them. The Venom is sold to Pharma companies to make Anti Snake Venom.Set up in 1978 Irula Snake Catcher's Society has 300 members #TNForest pic.twitter.com/vhsZkeqn21

¡ª Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) September 19, 2022

¡°Nothing less than fascinating to see the Irula tribes extracting snake venom from snakes like Cobra, Russell's viper, Krait etc, without harming them. The Venom is sold to Pharma companies to make Anti Snake Venom.Set up in 1978, Irula Snake Catcher's Society has 300 members,¡± the IAS officer captioned the video.

The video has garnered more than 6,000 views.

Here's how people reacted to the video.

That's Russell's Viper!

¡ª Murali (@muraliraw) September 19, 2022

Has this been approved by the Government? This may be risky sometime. Mass awareness is necessary. @tnforestry

¡ª R R Sahay (@CRajiva) September 20, 2022

Thanks for sharing this clip. Definitely needs more attention from the Govt. to promote as well as protect people of this tribe!

¡ª Peddada Srikar (@PeddadaSrikar) September 20, 2022

Thanks for sharing this clip. Definitely needs more attention from the Govt. to promote as well as protect people of this tribe!

¡ª Peddada Srikar (@PeddadaSrikar) September 20, 2022

The Irula tribe is one of India's oldest indigenous communities. The people belonging to the community live along the borders of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are known to be specialists in traditional herbal medicine and healing practices.

Irula tribe is known for its snake catching prowess

Along with their knowledge in medicine, they are popular for catching and extracting venom from dangeous snakes.

The Irula Snake Catcher's Society reportedly has around 300 members working to save the lives of people in South India.

Not only India, they are popular across the world. Their prowess at catching snakes brought them an invitation from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in 2017.

Two members of the society flew half way across the world to participate in a project aimed at curbing the extensive problem of Burmese pythons in the Everglades National Park. These enormous snakes had established a large breeding population in the Everglades, and were threatening endangered populations of small mammals in the national park.

Over a span of two months, the two members captured 34 pythons, the BBC reported.

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