Speaking of snakes, we all think of a magical country-India. There are many legends and stories about snakes coming from India. Indeed, due to the influence of Hinduism, snakes have a high status in India, even comparable to the Hindu sacred object-cow.
But despite this, cobras were once hunted in large numbers in India, and the government also offered rewards for the killings. However, the resulting impact was that the number of cobras increased instead of falling. What is the story behind this?
The Indian government offers a reward for catching snakes
Cobras are one of the most dangerous animals in the world. Once their sharp fangs bite a human body, they will immediately release venom. If the venom does not get timely treatment after entering the human body, the person will soon lose his life.
Since the 17th century, India has been ruled by British colonists, and since then the colonial era has begun for nearly 200 years. At this time, it seemed that people were busy with war and livelihood and had no time to deal with animals. The number of cobras in India increased like crazy, and they were all over India's cities and villages for a while.
Cobras themselves have little impact on the ecological environment, but they are very harmful to human life and health. A huge number of cobras enter human territory and often attack people due to lack of food. People are bitten to death by cobras almost every day. People can only hide away when they see it, so this vicious animal is At that time, it became the number one enemy of the Indian people.
At that time, India was colonized by the British, and the government did not have enough funds to deal with these matters, so the rulers were helpless and unable to carry out large-scale snake hunting operations. But the people of their own country suffered greatly, and it was not an option to just watch the people suffer, so the rulers came up with a brilliant idea: mobilized the people to catch snakes, and the people killed the captured snakes and handed them over to the government , you can get a reward from the government .
When the Indian people heard the news, they immediately became interested. Catching snakes can not only effectively reduce the number of snakes and protect their own lives, but also receive money from the government to subsidize their families. Whether they are men, women, old or young, they all appear on the streets and suburbs one after another, joining the snake catching team, looking for cobras everywhere. This method of mobilizing private power was very effective. Before long, the number of cobras in India dropped sharply, and the snake disaster was finally contained.
After that, cobras seemed to be extinct in India. There were no more incidents of cobras hurting people. The Indian rulers were of course very satisfied with this result.
Why the number of cobras has increased again
At that time, catching cobras became an industry in India. Many people who made a living by catching cobras made a lot of money, and catching snakes also became an important source of income. . However, the problem has gradually been exposed: there are gradually fewer cobras on the streets, and it is difficult to see cobras even in the wild, which has cut off the economic income of many people.
But Indians immediately discovered that there are loopholes in this activity. The government only stipulates that you can receive rewards by holding captured cobras, but it does not stipulate that cobras can only be caught in the wild. In order to continue to receive rewards from the government, many people have made crooked ideas. Many people have raised cobras at home, and the number of self-raised cobras has gradually increased. When the common people wait for the cobra to grow to a certain size, they will kill the cobra and hand it over to the government, pretending that it is they caught from the wild.
There is no apparent difference in appearance between artificially raised cobras and wild cobras. Sure enough, , the government did not discover that the cobras handed in in the future were all artificially raised , and continued to give rewards to those who turned in the snakes. More and more people found that this was a good idea and followed suit, raising cobras at home and then handing them over to the government, and this activity continued.
However, over time, the Indian government discovered the clues.Officials found that although wild cobras were rare, the frequency of people catching snakes had not decreased, so they became confused: Where did the cobras captured now come from?
After investigation, the government finally discovered that these cobras were no longer captured by the common people, but were raised by the common people at home in order to obtain the government's bounty. So the Indian government canceled this policy . They thought that as long as it stopped in time, the number of cobras would not only be controlled, but the government would not have to pay a large bounty, which is the best of both worlds. But what happened next was unexpected.
Since the government stopped this activity, the people will not get the bounty, and the cobras they raise are of no use, and raising them at home will incur additional expenses. Therefore, these cobras can only be released into the wild, so This instantly led to a significant increase in the number of cobras in the wild in India, and the actions taken by the government became in vain.
Based on this phenomenon, Western economists have concluded the " Cobra effect ", which refers to taking the wrong response to a certain problem, which not only fails to solve the problem, but makes the problem more serious .
Snake Culture in India
Although India was once overrun with cobras, Indians are not afraid of cobras and regard snakes as gods.. In India, snake worship has a history of five thousand years. Hinduism believes that snakes are closely related to the origin of the universe. Therefore, in places where Hinduism is believed, there are images and totems of snakes.
Hindu believers believe that snakes are the incarnation of the souls of their ancestors and can bless them. Shiva, one of the three main gods of Hinduism, has a cobra wrapped around his neck, and Vishnu, the other main god, often lies on the snake's body. This is enough to show that snakes have a very high status in India.
Among all snakes, Indians especially like cobras. They call cobras "Nura Panbu", which means good snake. Moreover, cobras have also spawned a profession - snake charmers, which is also part of Indian folk culture . On the streets in many places in India, you will find snake charmers playing musical instruments, with a dancing king cobra in front of them. The Indian snake-charming skills are also passed down from ancestors. Many people have made a living by snake-charming for generations.
India also has a Snake Festival every year. Hindu believers will worship the snake god on the day of the Snake Festival. Seralai City attaches great importance to snakes. On the day of Snake Festival, local citizens will go to the wild to catch snakes and then put the caught snakes in the temple. They are also bitten by snakes when they catch them. Not only do they not worry about it, they are also proud of it. They think that being bitten by a snake indicates that they will be free from illness and disaster in the coming year.
In order to seek good luck, Indians like to draw snake symbols on their doors. It is said that farmers in India even keep cobras at home to look after their homes. In short, India has a colorful and diverse snake culture influenced by Hinduism, and snakes have become the unique spiritual sustenance of Indian people .
However, there is no shortage of news about people being bitten to death by snakes . The highly venomous cobras occupy most of the . Therefore, there has been a trend of canceling some snake-related activities in India recently. After all, in the face of faith, life is more important. important.
Although the Indian government's reward for catching snakes goes against the grain and has become the famous "cobra effect", it at least conveys some truth to us, that we must stay away from dangerous animals and do not offend them easily. And don't take advantage of policy loopholes for the sake of profit, otherwise you will only reap the consequences and ultimately harm your own .
Author: Changpangwanwan Proofreading Editor: W
