The Gombe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya, has called for the rearing of pigs as a means of reducing prevalence of snakes in the state.
Ishaya, who gave the advice in Gombe on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said that pigs are known to kill snakes and have genetics that make them immune to venom.
He explained that for several decades people of Kaltungo had been rearing pigs, noting that the pigs were known for chasing and killing snakes in the community.
NAN reports that Kaltungo town in Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe, popularly called the ‘Snake Haven’ lies within the Snake belt region of Northern Nigeria, and is known for its abundance of different species of snakes.
‘‘As a result of rearing of pigs the incident of snake bite has drastically reduced,’’ he said.
According to him, pigs harass, kill and eat snakes because they have genetic attribute that make them immune and resilient to the venom of many snakes.
He disclosed that the available snake species in Kaltungo are spitting cobra, puff adder, python and carpet viper.
He added that Kaltungo terrain favoured the snakes due to the abundance of fruit-bearing palm trees. (NAN)
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