Snake Safari in Uganda

Uganda Winston Churchill called it a pearl of Africa more than a hundred years ago since then more and more visitors travel to this former British colony in the eastern part of the continent the area of Uganda is approximately three times bigger than the area of the Czech Republic and most of the iconic African animals live here apart from the beautiful nature tourists admire the rich tribal culture and enjoy the friendly atmosphere we also want to see the big animals in the national parks but the main target of this expedition will be something else the venomous snakes Uganda is home to some fascinating species which are disappearing quickly from nature will we find them are there any populations left in Uganda or is the situation as bad as in other parts of Africa we start to explore the nature and culture of Uganda slowly and our first destinations are in the national parks it will be a pity not to see some big African mammals but as we soon find out just traveling in Africa can be a thrilling adventure the Queen Elizabeth National Park is home to big cats and also huge herbivores the young line has a radio collar on its neck so the scientists can track its movement this place is famous for its big herds of elephants which can be seen from a close distance on the kasanga Channel

the hippos are also very abundant here after seeing their big mouths it is not difficult to understand that they are the most dangerous animals in Africa they are often fighting even with the other individuals off their kind and the multiple scars on their bodies are proof of that we keep a safe distance from these giants the same as wise when you meet a herd of elephants we let them cross the road and then continue the banded mongooses are not so dangerous and we can observe them from a close distance scientists from the Exeter University in the United Kingdom study their social behavior in Queen Elizabeth National Park we join them and track these charismatic carnivores some animal species like zebras impalas or islands can be found only in a few locations in Uganda we saw these three herbivores in Lake Laboral National Park a very unique place in Uganda is the Ziva rhino sanctuary in 2005 southern white rhinoceros were introduced here northern white rhinoceros went extinct in this country in the 80s of the 20th century these mammals are reproducing well in Z walk so their population is growing it is a unique experience to track the Rhinos and stand so close to them Chabal a national park is home to 13 primate species it is the highest number in any protected area in Africa most people visit this place because of chimpanzees there are several habituated groups in the park spending some time with our closest relatives and observing families with babies is an unforgettable experience it is truly important to save the last remaining pieces of wilderness so the animals like chimpanzees will still have enough space for their survival the most exciting mammal

tracking is the one in the southwest of Uganda because mountain gorillas live in the high altitudes in this part of the country the population of these apes in Burundi National Park is stable thanks to the effect of protection but as a species they are very endangered with only about a thousand individuals in the world altogether more and more people want to see these gentle giants and they are willing to pay several hundreds of dollars to spend one hour with gorillas this money is used for anti poaching activities forest protection and the support of local communities there are strict rules during the gorilla tracking the visitors can't try to get close to the Apes but curious baby sometimes approach and touch the strange creatures in their territory the montane forests are not only a habitat for gorillas many smaller animals share this area with them we just need to observe the surroundings carefully the johnstons chameleon is impressive it has a sexual dimorphism so the females don't have any significant features on their body but the male's carry three big horns on their heads they use them during male combat over territory we are happy with the first reptile finding and now we want to continue for the search of venomous snakes for that we need to head back to the lowlands searching for snakes is a very different activity than the safari in the national parks we travel to the Ugandan countryside to meet people who are interested in snakes we don't know about any researchers or conservationists soon we arrived to the farm of a snake exporter we are interested in his job legislation connected with the export of wild animals and his opinion about the remaining


populations of snakes in the wild you can i still virgin and vast with animals why because of the laws because of the laws and because because the government is using regulatory powers you see companies like this one will find they are very few we are only like three four companies that are at chi but when you go to Tanzania you find that four hundred companies yeah a hundred companies doing export of wild animals so this one becomes a little bit tricky so the survival world life and many people practicing they announced you know they're not experienced and they're known educated because even if you know you have the experience and you're not educated you can you can read because the main main main language of communication will be English even if you're proud of speaking Czech language Japanese everywhere you go to access knowledge you have to use the medium of communication as English yeah so this is this is also the illiteracy will also cause you know extinction of animals because people are not aware of what exists yes so the government does not come teach these people how to prevent snake bites how to handle them what part so instead of the company partnering with video companies like us to teach the masses it is one of the ways that we you know bring backward life to ship because people when people land this animal is of importance don't kill several people bring this animal to gaboon Vipers and rhinoceros they are rare because of the too much demand on the pet market so the growing desire of these animals you know generally in the world because Asia people in Asia are just starting to have pet life usually toes too much in Europe Germany you know even check human in change people are just growing that hat of having


it's even though so it's just grain so the too much demand is will cause the watch the extinction that's why governments are adopting the issue of breeding in captivity so if you don't breed in captivity turn on export so if you breed fuel export so this is it and even these animals are a little bit easier to breathe because they are mating and what you have to you know you have to know they are psycho when do they met when do they give but what do they need yeah because when you look at them in the world the same environment that you find them in is what you depict and then you not T to bring it you come off a logic on the phone that's how you can keep them but if you don't and you're going to keep them that's why many people buying in Europe because they die they don't adopt the same environment in Africa they think people in what we do in Africa is stupid but these animals we know much more better how they live here than they do because of the sunshine and the changes of their environment you will discover that this and these plants are drying a little bit so they are shedding and it's per season of shedding but I'll have again those plants that I keep in which are always which are circulant because they keep water and some of them will drink the small ones will drink on leaves so some of these ones here I have the ones that I bred exported some and I remained it Sam so I get this cage down it's open so I put them in you get so I put the soil halfway I plant in these trees so the trees of your eye and then will shelter outside so the animal feels its home it's in the bush yes so and even it's cooler and the way they leave even when you look at the leaves that they come off a lodge with the leaves we pick them from other trees that's when they dry they look the same as it and that's why we you know we have them like when somebody will want to buy these gaboon Vipers they will go for a long journey most probably they land somewhere in Europe or in the USA in the hands of private keepers the price of these snakes is about 500 euros for adults our goal is to find the rare


venomous snakes in their natural habitat we travel to the remote area in the countryside where tourists normally don't come a local snake hunter welcomes us to his village he sometimes works for the snake seller whose farm we visited the people in the village are excited by our visit and they are very friendly almost everybody comes to see us and especially children are excited by our cameras and other equipment while the young ones are playing the cat has a similar effect as an vitami and it is very common in the Northeast and parts of Africa we start to be part of some habits in the village and we play football with the children it seems that bringing a new ball was a very good idea it is clear from the excited and smiling faces of every boy and girl around during halftime we have fun playing cards it is not a problem to communicate even with the fact that some children know only a few words in English we gain the trust of the locals and they give us a small baby for a while they believe that it will bring her luck Uganda belongs to the more developed countries in Africa but there is still a high mortality of children the parents didn't give a name to the baby so far but we'll do that later if she survives small helmeted chameleons are moving in the bushes near the houses we use this opportunity to educate children about these lizards we show them that they are not dangerous many people in Africa have a panic fear from chameleons they believe that they are poisonous or possess bad magical power most of our time we spend with the hunter in the forests and we search for snakes the first two days are frustrating because we cannot find any snake even after walking for several kilometers but the card is turning now our first snake is an amazing one so tell me right so go Wow give me food oh wow Wow the rhinoceros Viper is the rarest target species of our trip it lives only in the primary forests where it is camouflaged in the leaf litter the snake is deadly venomous and capable of a fast strike we film and photograph a beautifully colored adult individual the most striking feature of this snake is the presence of horns on its nose so far it is not known what purpose this species has them the hunter shows us how he usually catches snakes any mistake could be fatal in this situation we are doing well now and we soon find a green bush Viper this species and other Vipers from the genus Atlas have interesting scales which give them a look of small dragons Bush Vipers are favorite snakes of many keepers and they are often exported from Africa the green bush Viper is doing well in captivity and breeding is not very rare we are happy that both Vipers which we found will stay in the forest the next day in the morning the hunter finds another snake the forest Cobra many people from the village go to the stream to take water so we have spectators when working with this snake there are about 20 species of Cobras in Africa and the forest Cobra is the longest one the adults can be about three metres long it is known for its nervous attitude and this youngster is not different filming and photographing of Cobras is always interesting because of their attractive defense behavior in the standing position with the neck rib spread to form a typical hood Cobra reacts mostly to movement and definitely not to sound because it is death when it feels it is safe it doesn't have the hood and can resemble a non-venomous color breed snake unfortunately this can lead to a misidentification by villagers and deadly bites we are coming to the forest everyday we found another beautiful green bush Viper it is interesting that not much is known about the venom of these snakes the anti-venom has not yet been manufactured it is different with the rhinoceros Vipers we found a big female with a weight of about 3 kilograms such a big snake has enough venom to kill an adult human but it is avoiding any contact with people the venom is used for subduing its prey and it is used for defense only when there is no other option left the keepers admire venomous snakes because they are beautiful and colorful but also because they are dangerous the rhinoceros viper has all of that and it is one of the most favourite species in the venomous snake pet market the only animal which is more wanted is the hybrid between the gaboon viper and the rhinoceros viper we cannot believe that we see the hybrid from nature here keepers would pay thousands of dollars for this snake every hybrid has a different combination of features from both parental species these hybrids are called gabino's the hybridization in captivity can be quite successful but to see a Gabino

 in the wilderness is very rare we know how lucky we are the hunter has been going to the forest since he was very young and he has seen a Toby no only for the second time both Gabino and a big female rhinoceros Viper will be given to the snake seller female is suitable for breeding and the Gabino will be sold to Europe or the USA this is how it works and the buyer will probably be found quickly we would like to release the snakes back to the forest but we understand that the people from Uganda want to earn money for a living we arrived to another location which is drier and it is a working area of another hunter during wandering around villages we see some interesting things other than snakes it's obvious the people from Uganda are skillful and find many ways outter earn some money plantations are a good habitat for the puff adder it is probably the most dangerous snake in Africa if it is provoked it strikes with incredible speed moreover the snake is adaptable and lives in the vicinity of people in the agricultural land puff adder is not so wanted on the pet market as gaboon or Renault Soros Viper the color of the snake is not so prominent its behavior is unpredictable and it's common it is time to know more about the life of the hunters and see what kind of relationship they have with snakes we want to know why they do this job and if they know the risks my special rock I'm crop of animals blast snakes another go I'm a farmer these seven years since I started it is a good job and in small money which will help him in life I go in the forest I collect when Emma called me that we need this and this instead of going and look for them as I as I answer him that it's already happy to come and pick it and stick it the zoo pole there somebody who needs it to expert it so just be easy if if she want to go in the forest and look how they live and how because I have no book says now I have to get some money so that I construct those boxes so that if I get sometimes like in season like beginning of January like biscuit bones and transports they'll be similar ones they'll be pregnant so that will correct them we keep them they were in match will be producing babies so these are the people who need only babies so that we sell to them then these are duck then take it back to the world then sometimes then we take it the world maybe another time we can't find them when it is a ready again signature the government er they are emphasizing people to print because some of people didn't don't know how to manage keeping almost because they want you to first Brit food of giving them so that they come and see that you have a lot of food which you can manage to give them to eat for that they can survive the time was almost starting I hope I was flying no because it is Daniela's when it bites you you can't dive but when when you really go soul surely you'll know that sneza near the end a lot but when when you go slowly when getting and interested in something which you are doing so you love it like that for me even if I see somebody beating last night it amazed me instead of beating it does just sit and just back with what world where it lives because I don't like because for me now I know that if I get  it I earn it from I earn something from it instead of it instead of killing it it is better if you tangle that is why I like it because I earn in some money even there are beautiful things we benefited Angeles but some somehow good have been beaten back by snake whole defense net they told him that you are going to die when I was afraid of that but if I didn't sleep the whole night


because somebody was saying it I said no no instead of instead of being there telling that you cannot die by ever put every passion coming to you to sing you our lives coming big is tell me that we are going to die if they are giving me different local medicine you take this take this take this so that God - God helped me I survived but the leg was big it takes like three days starting to come slows the pain come start coming down coming until I was killed because I didn't use any and I did they didn't take me for them maybe for the exit area for their hospital they didn't for us with yeah normally local medicine if you are obedient even gaboon father the medicine abuse em it is a pre just they give you it see roots and you you swallow it dick in some movie it seems unbelievable that somebody could survive the bite of gaboon viper just with usage of traditional medicine despite the size and weight of the snake it is almost invisible in the leaf litter villagers can simply step on it in Uganda gaboon Vipers live also in the secondary forests and plantations so the encounters are more usual than with rhinoceros Viper gaboon Vipers are also more often exported from Africa this snake ambushes its prey it can wait for a long time and in strikes with incredible speed the success of the hunt is ensured by the longest fangs among all venomous snakes they can be five point five centimetres long this individual is ready to be sold to one zoo in Uganda there is one snake species which hunters don't export the rough scaled bush Viper is a relative of the green bush Viper it usually dies within a few months in captivity and breeding is unsuccessful many keepers from around the world would like to buy the snake but the hunters don't want to send rough scale Vipers to their death this species has a very patchy range and lives mainly in the wet localities where it hunts frogs and probably also in vertebrates we still haven't found one of the most common and well known venomous snakes the Mamba just came so it's a big number there is a Jameson's Mamba on the tree at a height of 5 meters it takes us a while until we recognize what the hunters are going to do they want to catch the snake in the treetops we are amazed when we see that the 13 year old hunter son climbs up and then his father follows Mamba is holding firmly and the hunters try some rough techniques to get the animal down finally they managed to catch it with the snake tongs and the hunter gets down with a two meter long Mamba in his hand they have a bigger respect of the Mamba than to the Vipers it is reasonable


because the mambas are fast clever and they don't hesitate to bite when they feel threatened the neurotoxic venom can kill an adult human within hours mambas need it to kill birds quickly so they don't need to fight with the prey too much that the hunters have another Mamba which they caught before we came to visit them both snakes are old and about two meters long both of them are going to shed their skin so that color turned to gray and one of them even has cloudy eyes mambas have some of the skin damage but that will disappear after they shed these members will not be used for export and we are happy to film and photograph them before releasing them back to the forest at least we saw how dangerous the work of snake hunters can be in some situations Jameson's Mamba is one of the three species of Green mambas in Africa they live in the forested areas and spend most of their time in the canopy their eyesight is great and they are one of the fastest snakes in the world we end our expedition with this beautiful snake and now it's time to travel back home there are still iconic venomous snakes in Uganda these reptiles have an important role in the ecosystems and they deserve to be protected some species are not only threatened by destruction of their habitat but by people killing them who fear them the next threat is the big demand of keepers from Europe the USA or Asia the snake bred in captivity are not so plentiful so more and more individuals are being taken from the wilderness we think that the breeding of snakes in Africa can at least help to solve a bit of the problem but the number of exported snakes should be definitely not so high over collecting can lead to a critical decrease in wild populations the future of gaboon Vipers and other beautiful snakes is not only in the hands of African people but also keepers from around the world