Nawal Kishore Singh holding a picture of a snake in his cellphone. Picture by Srinivas

Jamshedpur, Dec. 19: If not as iconic as wildlife hero late Steve Irwin, Nawal Kishore Singh is not far behind, chasing his passion: capture Cobras and Karaits to extract their venom, and save numerous victims from fatal snake bites.

In hot pursuit of his childhood “charm”, Sharma has quit his Tata Steel job a decade ago, only to fall into 30-ft pit to catch a Black Cobra in the Hazaribagh jungle or endure several attacks of the Common Karait (Bungarus caeruleus; Chitti in local parlance) on the Jharkhand terrain. Today, he is preparing to leave for South Africa, he says, “to get hold of the elusive Golden Cobra”.

“Capturing the Golden Cobra will be like a dream come true,” says the 72-year-old, who belies his age chasing this cold-blooded reptile with equal agility.

A resident of Bagbera Colony in the suburbs, Singh is at the beck and call of relatives of snakebite victims 24x7, especially with a plethora of mobile phones seen slung across his shoulders. Vials of Black Cobra and Karait venom are also kept safely tucked inside his scooter compartment. “I need them as one never knows when I’m called by someone in distress,” says Singh. “I am available round-the-clock. I feel satisfied having been able to save a victim from snake bite,” he smiles. He uses his four-wheeler to reach out to long-distance victims and his service comes free.

Catching snakes and extracting venom are not just his only jobs. He owns a snake-breeding centre at Kuchai in neighbouring West Singhbhum. “I have 7,000 Black and White Cobras and a thousand Karaits. I transport their venom to a laboratory in Visakhapatnam, which prepares anti-venom drugs. A 30 ml vial of White Cobra poison costs Rs 7-7.5 lakh, while that of Karait comes for Rs 3-3.5 lakh,” said Singh. He explained that it needs about 1,500 snakes to extract 30 ml of venom. He has employed 18 boys to work for him and “feeds prawns to the snakes every fortnight”.

Revealing interesting facts, Singh said: “A snake dies within 48 hours of attacking a human. Bite of the Karait is deadlier than the Black Cobra, leading to death in just 7-8 minutes, while a Cobra’s strike allows one to live for 48 hours.”