Meet Biplab Mahapatra, a self-driven wildlife conservationist and activist, who till date has rescued nearly 17,000 snakes, 20 Cats, 15 Monkeys, 200 Birds, 500 wild Cattle and 2200 different kind of reptiles such as Monitor Lizard, Turtle, Chameleon with his team, which also has earned him a Limca Book of Records in 2016.
Presently Biplab is the unit head of People for Animals or PFA in Angul, Orissa, the organisation is headed by Maneka Gandhi. Under his leadership, People for Animals, Angul has launched a campaign named “Save Snakes” to reduce negative perception about snakes by implementing strategies which will lead to peaceful coexistence. The campaign is going to cover 200 schools.
Biplab says, “Save Snakes is dedicated exclusively to snake conservation. Our mission is to protect threatened snake populations around the world though habitat preservation, education and community outreach to create a harmonious relationship between humans and snakes. We educate communities about how to live in harmony with snakes, why snakes are important for ecosystems and how to treat snakebite”.
Biplab’s childhood was spent in village with unconditional tolerance towards animals and wildlife, as the village was located amidst huge bio diversity. Though after his education Biplab started his career as a journalist, working with an English weekly, but with the turn of destiny he become fully involved with his passion to save wildlife and gradually his work got acknowledged in wider sphere. He won Biju Patnaik Wildlife Conservation Awardfor his contribution in the field of wildlife conservation. In 2018, he won the Prakruti Bandhu Award.
Biplab is associated with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. He is also a honorary animal welfare officer with Animal Welfare Board of India, Ballabhgarh in Haryana, which work as the statutory advisory body advising the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
In future Biplab and his team wants to start an animal rescue centre for both domestic and wild animals with a mobile ambulance service for all animals. They also focuses on achieving zero snake bite death.
