The uniquely diamond-patterned Russell’s viper is one of India’s “big four” venomous snake species. It has a formidable reputation, and is believed to be the cause of a major number of snake bite deaths and disabilities within its range. In 2018, The Liana Trust initiated the groundbreaking Russell’s Viper Ecology Study to better understand this species ecology in the human-dominated landscape of rural Karnataka. In the first phase of the study, our team tracked 30 Russell’s vipers for three years, and gleaned information on their home ranges, micro habitat choices, points of intersection with humans, and more. We believe that this study will prove crucial to lowering snake bite risk, and it is now moving into its second phase. The Humane Society International-India has been a close collaborator on this project. 

Why do kraits bite sleeping humans? What choices does an individual krait make and why? The Liana Trust’s Krait Behavioral Research Project explores these questions via behavioral experiments and observation of three species of kraits kept in captivity. The answers that emerge will help inform snakebite mitigation measures for this enigmatic but vilified species. This project is being executed in collaboration with scientists at the Centre for Ecological Sciences.