Centuries old cobra snake charming should be boycotted for many reasons

In India and the Middle East, there is a centuries old practice that involves cobras and other fearsome snakes. Buskers, or street performers use the snakes to put on a show for tourists, expecting compensation for pictures or videos. It's understandable, considering the economic situation in many countries, with many people struggling to make a living and feed themselves. Extreme poverty can make it easy to blur the ethical lines that surround using wild animals for profit.

But there is a very dark and cruel side to this kind of performance, and understanding how the snakes are treated is extremely important. Wild cobras are captured and their fangs and venom glands are removed. Some even have their mouths stitched shut so that only their tongues can protrude. This is done to render them harmless to their handlers and to the tourists who pay for the opportunity to handle them or pose with them for pictures. The procedures make it impossible for them to eat adequately and they will die of starvation and dehydration within a few months of being in captivity. Snake charmers typically need 6 to 7 cobras each year to replace those that perish.

These snake charmers in Jaipur, India have set up their act on the sidewalk in a busy tourist area. They yell to anyone with a camera, asking them to pose with the snakes, sit with them on their carpets, or even touch the snakes. On the surface, it appears that they are using their instruments to entice the snakes out of the baskets. The misconception is that they are hypnotizing the snakes with their music. In truth, the snakes don't even hear the music, although they feel vibrations. The cobras perceive the handlers and the tourists as a threat and their pose is a defensive one, showing them to be fearful. Watching the handlers carefully, they can be seen prodding the snakes, poking them, tapping them under the chin, and pinching them to startle them and make them move. The snakes are also wary of each other.

These performers have found a viable way to make a living, asking for one hundred to two hundred rupees (almost $2-3) for a picture, although they will cajole and plead for up to five hundred rupees ($7). As long as people continue to have their pictures taken and pay these performers, the process of capturing and mistreating the animals will continue. The only way to stop the cruelty is to boycott these performances, refusing to take part and refusing to pay. Only when the customers stop making snake charming profitable, will the snake charmers stop abusing the snakes.