"Walk in Negative. Walk out Positive"
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| A Green Tree Python at Levi's Python Conservation. This species are native to Papua New Guinea (photo by Terry Francis, 2014) |
Along the Okuk Highway at approximately the border of Eastern Highlands and Chimbu Provinces, one cannot miss the Snake village (Ronu Village). The man behind the the famous Snake Village is Levi Nondo (aka Snake Man) who is in his thirtiesr. A typical Eastern Highlander who posses a fountain of humor. When I first met him, I realized that he is not just another ordinary villager, but a very unique man on a mission.
When asked why he was interested in snakes, he answered passionately. He said, our ancestors had respect for the natural environment including the snakes. They don't kill snakes but treated snakes with respect as important inhabitants of the environment. Our attitude today markedly contrasts that of our ancestors. We have developed unwarranted ophidiophobia. We have become enemy of the snakes. He said, after observing this trend, he feared that soon we will loose many of our harmless snakes so he decided to protect the snakes by way of changing the mindset of people. He said, he wanted to demonstrate that not all snakes are harmful, and snakes can be regarded as other domesticated or wild animals.
When asked why he was interested in snakes, he answered passionately. He said, our ancestors had respect for the natural environment including the snakes. They don't kill snakes but treated snakes with respect as important inhabitants of the environment. Our attitude today markedly contrasts that of our ancestors. We have developed unwarranted ophidiophobia. We have become enemy of the snakes. He said, after observing this trend, he feared that soon we will loose many of our harmless snakes so he decided to protect the snakes by way of changing the mindset of people. He said, he wanted to demonstrate that not all snakes are harmful, and snakes can be regarded as other domesticated or wild animals.
In 2011, he started his project to protect and preserve snakes in his locality. He started buying wild snakes that were unfortunately caught by locals. Instead of killing the snakes, which was the trend, captors of live snakes sold them (snakes) to Levi for prices ranging from K30.00 to K100.00. Soon his collection of snakes, all pythons, increased. Through this initiative snakes were also protected from being killed. However, at times the snakes were unfortunately badly hurt and brought to him, which he had to nurse until they got better or worse. If he figures that the health of his sick pythons continue to deteriorate, he would let them go into the wild hoping that mother nature will provide the best remedy. Other times, they die in his custody and he buries them. To date his collection comprises 29 pythons of various sizes.
For sustainability and preservation of pythons, one of his goal is to try to successfully breed pythons to be released back into the environment. However, he is yet to successfully breed pythons as the python eggs continue to rot and disintegrate due to unfavorable incubation temperatures. I guess, he would need an incubator to successfully hatch one.
One of the daily challenge he faces is the task of getting the pythons' meals. The pythons' meals consist of rats. In all his ingenuity, he has engaged the deaf, dumb, often neglected people of the village to assist in sourcing rats for the pythons. He buys the rats from these people at a price of K5.00 for ten rats.
If you travel along the Highlands Highway you will not miss his snake sanctuary. It is also a tourist attraction although not so popular. So far he has had a good number of tourists who had visited his snake conservation project. He charges a small fee of less thank K10.00 per person to raise funds for the upkeep of the python sanctuary. At the moment he is not affiliated with any of the tourist agencies/companies that operate in Goroka and Kundiwa to promote his fascinating project.
While glancing through the drawings pasted on the pitpit woven wall, outside his house, I noted an intriguing drawing. It was of a human face with snake scales and tongue. I was quite interested and asked what this design was all about. Upon interrogating him, he explained the purpose of his creation. He said, this year he is planning to show case his pythons at the Goroka Cultural Show. He will involve some youths from the village who will be painted as snakes and will display the pythons. The portrait is the portrait of the 'Snake Man'. I was thinking out aloud, could this be the beginning of another comical character called the 'Snake Man'?
Just like many of us, Levi had his personal snake phobia. His greatest personal achievement was overcoming his snake phobia. Apart from that, he is even more satisfied because he has influenced many of his villagers to dispel the snake phobia. And now the snakes (pythons) are regarded as other domesticated animals in the community. As I was walking out the python sanctuary, stuck against the fence facing me was a placard with the sentences - "Walk In Negative. Walk Out Positive". Sure it made a lot of sense.
The next time you're in Goroka or Kundiawa, you could travel to Ronu Village and see for yourselves the exotic pythons.
Mr. Levi Nondo is not a herpetologist. He is doing this project for the love of snakes to protect and conserve. In fact, he has been living with the snakes for the last four years. His house is in his snake sanctuary.
For sustainability and preservation of pythons, one of his goal is to try to successfully breed pythons to be released back into the environment. However, he is yet to successfully breed pythons as the python eggs continue to rot and disintegrate due to unfavorable incubation temperatures. I guess, he would need an incubator to successfully hatch one.
One of the daily challenge he faces is the task of getting the pythons' meals. The pythons' meals consist of rats. In all his ingenuity, he has engaged the deaf, dumb, often neglected people of the village to assist in sourcing rats for the pythons. He buys the rats from these people at a price of K5.00 for ten rats.
If you travel along the Highlands Highway you will not miss his snake sanctuary. It is also a tourist attraction although not so popular. So far he has had a good number of tourists who had visited his snake conservation project. He charges a small fee of less thank K10.00 per person to raise funds for the upkeep of the python sanctuary. At the moment he is not affiliated with any of the tourist agencies/companies that operate in Goroka and Kundiwa to promote his fascinating project.
While glancing through the drawings pasted on the pitpit woven wall, outside his house, I noted an intriguing drawing. It was of a human face with snake scales and tongue. I was quite interested and asked what this design was all about. Upon interrogating him, he explained the purpose of his creation. He said, this year he is planning to show case his pythons at the Goroka Cultural Show. He will involve some youths from the village who will be painted as snakes and will display the pythons. The portrait is the portrait of the 'Snake Man'. I was thinking out aloud, could this be the beginning of another comical character called the 'Snake Man'?
Just like many of us, Levi had his personal snake phobia. His greatest personal achievement was overcoming his snake phobia. Apart from that, he is even more satisfied because he has influenced many of his villagers to dispel the snake phobia. And now the snakes (pythons) are regarded as other domesticated animals in the community. As I was walking out the python sanctuary, stuck against the fence facing me was a placard with the sentences - "Walk In Negative. Walk Out Positive". Sure it made a lot of sense.
The next time you're in Goroka or Kundiawa, you could travel to Ronu Village and see for yourselves the exotic pythons.
Mr. Levi Nondo is not a herpetologist. He is doing this project for the love of snakes to protect and conserve. In fact, he has been living with the snakes for the last four years. His house is in his snake sanctuary.
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