Deprived of their habitat, African snakes invite themselves into homes
COHABITING WITH WILDLIFE 5/7. Climate change and the transformation of rural areas are causing the migration of venomous snakes, particularly on the African continent. And this is making cohabitation with humans increasingly perilous.
They have become “unwelcome guests” in Tana River County, in eastern Kenya. As the local newspaper Daily Nation reports : “As the climate changes and seasons become more unpredictable, venomous snakes are being driven out of their natural habitat and directly into homes.” The Kofa family, interviewed by the newspaper, paid the price: in the middle of the night, their 13-year-old daughter, Swabrina, was attacked by a spitting cobra. A race against time was then launched, but by the time they reached a hospital with the right antivenom, the young patient had already lost sight in one eye.
Tana River County has experienced “increasingly erratic rainfall patterns over the past decade, with more intense but shorter rainy seasons and longer dry spells,” the Daily Nation reports, citing data from the Kenya Meteorological Service. These are “conditions that are driving wildlife to seek new habitats,” starting with these venomous snakes that are trying to adapt to survive. Even the author of the article experienced this firsthand when he came face to face with a black mamba in his home.
Neighboring Uganda is also observing the tra
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