THE STATESMAN (Kolkata, India) 30 January 08 ‘I am still hooked’
Rom Whitaker is a legend. Presented with the 2006 Sanctuary-ABN AMRO Lifetime Service Award, he has been largely responsible for making reptiles and amphibians more acceptable to humans who usually recoil at the very thought of a snake, crocodile or lizard. What follows are excerpts from an interview:
What accounts for your lifelong love affair with herps?
While growing up in the USA, we mainly lived out in the country in northern New York state. Non-venomous snakes abound there and as a five-year-old, I was already catching them and keeping them as pets. Amazingly, my mother was totally supportive of my strange pursuit. I was interested in bugs and spiders too, but snakes were the most! Coming to India could have been dangerous for a snake-crazy kid but I survived my childhood and the fascination for snakes and other herps just grew and grew.
It grew to the point where you actually started a snake park, right?
Yes, that was in 1970. And it was called the Madras Snake Park, now the Chennai Snake Park. I am happy to say it is still going strong and has hundreds of thousands of visitors per year, half of them children. The Trust is run by a retired IAS officer, B Vijayaraghavan, one of those rare officers who always had a deep interest in wildlife and educating people.
Tell us about the Croc Bank? Are you still a part of this?
The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust was set up in 1976 to act as a gene bank for all the world’s crocodilians. Today, it is home to 14 species of crocodiles, 14 species of turtles, lizards and snakes. It is also a premier institution for herpetological research and houses one of the best herpetological libraries in Asia. It is at the forefront of herp conservation in India with a major turtle project in the north, the new gharial conservation initiative and a research base in the Andaman Islands. I was the director for about 25 years until I stepped down in 2001. I’m still a trustee and advisor at the Madras Crocodile Bank.
Was there ever one defining wildlife moment you can identify that changed your life forever?
When I was about five years old, some little friends I was with, up in northern New York, killed a harmless snake. I put it into a jar and took it home. My older sister, Gail, was horrified and that impressed (and I suppose, saddened) me so much that I went right out and caught a live one to bring back and admire its beauty and grace. I was hooked then. I am still hooked today.
You are hooked to a life-threatening involvement, if I have it right. Are you actually allergic to snakebites? And what happens if you do get bitten?
Yes, I’m allergic to some snake venoms and also the anti-venom serum. I have no desire to die just yet and I am extremely careful in my old age. When I was in my wild 20s (the age at which you are “invincible”), I had a few serious snake bites, which taught me some important lessons that stuck with me all my life!
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