An official with Brazil’s environmental protection agency Ibama claims that snakes are invading the city of Belem due to deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Interviewed by the Associated Press, Ibama press officer Luciana Almeida said the agency has been called out to capture 21 snakes this year in the Amazonian city of 1.5 million. She said Ibama gets no more than one or two calls a month in most years.
Almeida said Ibama blames the increase in snakes on deforestation by loggers, ranchers and developers in the forest surrounding the city. Deforestation has more than doubled in the state of Para since last year.
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“Deforestation destroys their habitat, so they come to the city,” she was quoted as saying.
Ibama dispatches a veterinary team to capture snakes and release them.