Students’ perceptions on snake in Northwestern Bangladesh

Abstract

Abstract. Jaman MF, Rabbe MF, Alam MM, Shome AR, Hossain MA, Sarker MAR. 2020. Students’ perceptions on snake in Northwestern Bangladesh. Asian J Ethnobiol 21: 62-69. Human-snake interaction has an ancestral history with different outcomes at different times. This study was done to assess the student's perceptions of snakes and current superstitions practiced in some areas of northwestern Bangladesh. We interviewed 348 students from 7 educational institutions under 3 districts from January 2019 to April 2019. We asked dichotomous (yes-no) question to know perceptions about snakes and variation among superstitions of the students. We found significant variation in responses with respect to the demographic status of the respondents. Religion and education were the most influencing factors affecting the results of students’ perceptions. Among the total respondents, 329 (94.5%) had seen snakes, 182 (52.3%) considered snake as a notorious animal, 224 (64.4%) considered snakes as an economically harmful animal, 155 (44.5%) think killing snake gives a good feeling, 313 (90%) believe that snakes attack humans, 321 (92.2%) students have seen others killing snakes and 127 (36.5%) had killed snakes themselves. Of the five superstitions, “snake can drink milk” was the topmost statement believed by 293 (84.2%) students. Due to these negative attitudes and misconceptions, we assume that snakes are regularly killed and there is a potential risk for population decline.

Temporal variation, habitat heterogeneity and anthropogenic stressors influencing wildlife communities in an oxbow shaped wetland of lower Ganges floodplain, Bangladesh

“…At that time, human-mammal conflict was observed, and especially small carnivore mammals were at risk (Shome and Jaman 2021). Humans around the study area also have fears, misconceptions, and superstitions about some groups of wildlife, especially snakes, which also stimulate to increase the conflict (Jaman et al 2020). A number of venomous and non venomous snakes were killed by humans, and two recent cases of human deaths due to snakebites were also identified.…”

Community structure, ecology, and conservation issues of avifauna of two human-dominated landscapes in Faridpur district, Bangladesh during Covid-19 pandemic

“…The number of species was almost similar in the two sites, the urbanization effects were not so prominent in the study area as well as the habitat structure was almost identical; thus, their evenness was also; In rural sites, disturbance to birds is lower than in the urban site, and more suitable habitats for birds are present in rural site. Thus, the number of bird species is higher in rural areas (Tryjanowski et al, 2015;Shome et al 2020). Seasonal variation: In the winter, the highest number of bird species (95 species, 87.15%) was observed, with the highest number of counted bird individuals (n=2303, 42.23%).…”

“…Local people are also unaware of the conservation of bird species, and the illegal trade of birds and bird hunting is one of the major obstacles to conserving birds, especially in rural areas . Besides, misconceptions and superstations are present among local people not only about birds but also about other wildlife (Jaman et al, 2020;.…”

“…The lower Ganges portion of Bangladesh is enriched with avian diversity because of the presence of different types of natural habitats (e.g., wetlands, forests, green patches, sandbars, etc.). Still proper data on those birds are absent, and a small amount of research work was done in that region (Shome et al, 2022b;Mandal et al, 2021, Shome et al, 2020. The study aims to determine the avifaunal composition within the community, seasonality, habitat utilization, threats, and conservation issues of Madhukhali Upazila, Faridpur.…”