By SM Mohd Idris

Every so often pictures of the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (JPAM) members are featured in the media, holding pythons and cobras caught by their men.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is quite puzzled as to why the craze to photograph every reptile they catch.

A reptile that is trying to escape is already going through much stress from all the noise and interaction with humans. Since these are wild creatures never having being caught in the presence of so many men and having avoided human contact all their lives, the experience can be traumatic for these reptiles. Moreover what are these men trying to achieve by stretching the reptiles to the fullest to show off its total length?

We would also like to know whether these men are professional enough in the way these snakes are caught and handled. It is understandable that there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the catching of snakes. Is stretching out the snakes for photographic sessions part of this SOP? Has the welfare and needs of the snakes been considered from the moment of capture until their release? This amounts to total lack of animal welfare and care.

Penang’s longest snake died at the hands of JPAM not long ago. All those long delays and stretching of that poor python for the photo shoot has not prompted JPAM to learn a lesson from its mistakes.

It is high time JPAM understands that snakes may be large and robust, but they can bruise easily and suffer injury when subjected to inappropriate handling and stressful picture-taking.

JPAM must responsibly handle any wildlife caught and not use these creatures as objects for photo opportunities.

S M Mohd Idris is president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM).

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