Bengaluru: ‘Defanged’, a documentary on snakes to debunk reptile myths

Bengaluru: There are umpteen number of myths associated with snakes. Forget about real snake, just the term 'snake' sends down fear down the spine of majority of people and is capable of dispersing hundreds of people in few seconds.

Snakes have this bad reputation in the society. People forget that snakes is an integral part of the ecosystem and helps balance in it.

With an intention to create awareness on wildlife conservation, the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) has been taking proactive steps to encourage filmmakers to join its conservation efforts.

‘Defanged: Myths & Misconceptions’, a documentary which was released on Saturday addresses false notions about snakes and highlights their importance in the ecosystem. The documentary is filmed by a team of filmmakers from Eyeris Media, supported by Kalinga Foundation, logistically by Kalinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology and technically by Felis Creations, Evanescence Studios and many more.

Renowned herpetologist Gowri Shankar said, “This documentary addresses common beliefs that people hold about snakes from which stems their fear, reverence, hate, and confusions. All these responses sadly impact tolerance and hence conservation efforts. Hence I trust documentaries such as this will make a difference.”

“Making films on wildlife is certainly no easy task. While the idea of camping in the jungles, shooting from machans, coming close to wild animals et al., sounds very adventures, the amount of work that goes into it can be understood only by experiencing it practically. I hope this documentary inspires other young filmmakers like us to come to the fore and make documentaries on conservation,” said Abhilash Krishna, the director of the documentary.