Who Are the Irula?
The Irula are a Dravidian tribal people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in South India, numbering approximately 200,000. They speak Irula, a Dravidian language closely related to Tamil. The Irula are renowned as expert snake catchers, possessing traditional knowledge of snake behavior, habitat, and handling passed down through generations. This expertise made them essential to India's snake venom production industry. Once classified among India's "primitive tribal groups" (now Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups), the Irula have transitioned from forest-dwelling foragers to settled communities while maintaining their distinctive snake-catching skills.
Snake Catching Knowledge
Irula snake-catching skills represent generations of accumulated knowledge about snake ecology, behavior, and handling. They can locate snakes by reading subtle environmental signsâburrow shapes, skin traces, and behavioral patterns. Their techniques for catching venomous snakes (cobras, kraits, vipers) without injury require extraordinary skill and courage. Before the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act banned snake skin trade, Irula sold skins commercially. After the ban eliminated this livelihood, they redirected expertise toward venom extraction for antivenom production, saving thousands of snakebite victims annually.
Irula Snake Catchers' Cooperative
The Irula Snake Catchers' Industrial Cooperative Society, founded in 1978 with support from herpetologist Romulus Whitaker, transformed Irula livelihoods while contributing to public health. Members catch snakes, extract venom under controlled conditions, then release the snakes. The venom produces antivenom for treating India's massive snakebite burden (50,000+ deaths annually). This innovative model converted traditional knowledge into legal, conservation-compatible livelihood. The cooperative provides income, organizational structure, and validation of indigenous expertise. It demonstrates how traditional ecological knowledge can address modern challenges.
Contemporary Irula
Modern Irula face the transition from forest foraging to settled life. Many work as agricultural laborers on others' land. Poverty and landlessness remain widespread despite Scheduled Tribe status and reservation benefits. Education levels have improved, but economic opportunities remain limited. Snake catching, once a general skill, is now concentrated among cooperative members. Rat catching for agricultural pest control provides additional income, again using traditional tracking skills. How the Irula leverage their unique ecological knowledge while addressing broader economic marginalization shapes this snake-catching people's ongoing adaptation.
References
- Whitaker, R., & Captain, A. (2004). Snakes of India: The Field Guide
- Zvelebil, K. V. (1973). The Irula Language (Dravidian Linguistics)
- Morris, B. (1982). Forest Traders: A Socio-Economic Study of the Hill Pandaram