I do not post photos of captured animals or those that are artificially posed for photographs on my website. I wrote about this after my visit to Morocco, where cobras and rattlesnakes were held captive in the old market as a tourist "attraction." These animals were tormented just so tourists could take photos with them as a vacation souvenir. I do not support this practice – I neither took photos nor paid the so-called "nature lovers."

India, however, turned out to be different. On our way to another photography session, our local guide announced that we would make one more stop. We turned onto a street with low, terraced houses. A few people were waiting for our arrival, visibly nervous. It turned out that our guide, who is passionate about snakes as well as birds, had been called to intervene. He was helping to catch snakes that encroach on human settlements and then relocate them far away from residential areas. This time, the call was about an Indian cobra.
The Indian cobra, although smaller than its king cobra relative, is still venomous and dangerous. For our guide, however, it was almost as easy to handle as tying shoelaces is for me. Watching how confidently and effortlessly he managed this dangerous animal, you got the impression that it was just a harmless, legless lizard. But that was merely an illusion – a cobra bite, without immediate help, can kill a person in less than an hour.
What turned out to be the most shocking were the statistics. According to official government data, about 50,000 people die from snake bites every year in India. This number seems unimaginable, especially for a European, and likely does not account for all cases. These are dramatic figures that do not fit into the image of colorful, smiling India. This is a country that, on one hand, enchants with its idyllic atmosphere, rice fields, and tea plantations, and on the other, hides a deadly danger – snakes, an encounter with which can have tragic consequences.
During this trip, as we traversed dense forests searching for owls or scanned rice fields for birds, I realized that snakes are present everywhere. Their rivalry with humans for space and resources is not a matter of environmental policy or ideological rhetoric. It is a real, everyday conflict that results in the deaths of thousands of people.
To me, these numbers are depressing and tragic. In India, the kindness of its people, its vibrant culture, and the warmth of daily life coexist with a real, deadly threat. This collision of two worlds is hard to reconcile but represents the true face of this extraordinary country.

INDIE jezyk Angielski

India-11/2024- introduktory text-Malabar Grey-Hornbil
Newly created galleries:
BIRDS:
1.Malabar Grey-Hornbill(T). 2. Brahminy Starling. 3.Malabar Lark(V). 4.Black-rumped Flameback. 5.Jungle Babbler. 6.Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. 7.Common Hill Myna. 8.White-bellied Treepie. 9.Indian Blue Robin. 10.Black-and-rufous Flycatcher.11.White-naped Woodpecker. 12.Bay-backed Shrike. 13.Common Woodshrike. 14.Chestnut-shouldered Petronia. 15.Indian Nuthatch. 16. Green Leaf-Warbler. 17. Blue-capped Rock-Thrush. 18.Crested Goshawk. 19.Nilgiri Wood-Pigeon. 20.Brown-cheeked Fulvetta. 21. Nilgiri Flycatcher. 22.Jungle Myna. 23.Common Hawk-Cuckoo. 24.Purple Swamphen. 25.Black Drongo. 26.Red-naped Ibis. 27.River Tern. 28.Chestnut-tailed Starling. 29.Malabar Parakeet. 30.Blue-eared Kingfisher. 31.Red Spurfowl. 32.Rufous Treepie(V). 33.Blue-throated Flycatcher. 34.Orange-headed Thrush. 35.Mottled Wood-Owl. 36.Spotted Owlet. 37.Jerdon's Nightjar. 38.Small Minivet. 39.Indian Pygmy Woodpecker. 40.Malabar Whistling-Thrush. 41.Kerala Laughingthrush. 42.Black-throated Munia. 43.Grey Junglefowl. 44.Indian Robin(V). 45.Indian Scimitar-Babbler. 46.White-browed Wagtail. 47.Square-tailed Bulbul. 48.Rufous-bellied Eagle. 49.Nilgiri Pipit. 50.Yellow-crowned Woodpecker. 51.Yellow-throated Bulbul. 52.Greater Flameback. 53.Rufous Babbler. 54.Asian Fairy-bluebird. 55.Vernal Hanging-Parrot. 56.Jungle Bush-Quail(V). 57.Yellow-eyed Babbler. 58.White-browed Bulbul. 59.Red-headed Vulture. 60.White-bellied Drongo. 61.Indian Grey-Hornbill(V). 62.Grey Francolin(V).
MAMMALS:
1.Indian giant squirrel. 2.Bonnet macaque(V). 3.Gaur. 4.Indian boar. 5.Jungle palm squirrel. 6.Black-footed gray langur. 7.Nilgiri tahr. 8.Barking deer – Muntjac. 9.Asian elephant. 10.Indian flying fox.
REPTILES:
1.Common Wolf Snake. 2. Indian cobra(T). 3.Common house gecko.
Changes in galleries:
BIRDS:

1.Jungle Owlet. 2.Coppersmith Barbet(V). 3.Grey-headed flycatcher. 4.Pied Bush chat. 5.White-breasted Waterhen. 6.Western Yellow Wagtail. 7.Red-whiskered Bulbul. 8.Booted Warbler. 9.Brown-breasted Flycatcher. 10.Brown Wood-Owl(V). 11.Kashmir Flycatcher. 12.Banded Bay Cuckoo. 13.Velvet-fronted Nuthatch. 14.White-browed Fantail. 15.Long-tailed Shrike. 16.Indian Peafowl. 17.Spotted Dove. 18.Pygmy Cormorant. 19.Eurasian eagle-owl. 20.Red-wattled Lapwing. 21.Bronze-winged Jacana. 22.Black-crowned night heron. 23.Little Egret. 24.Green Bee-eater ( Asian green bee-eater). 25.Rosy Starling. 26.Asian Openbill. 27.Grey Heron. 28.Brahminy Kite. 29.Spot-billed Pelican. 30.Black-headed Ibis. 31.Greater Coucal. 32.Red-whiskered Bulbul. 33.Oriental Magpie-Robin. 34.Ashy Drongo. 35.House crow. 36.Malabar Trogon. 37.Ceylon Frogmouth. 38.Yellow-browed Bulbul. 39.Indian Pond Heron. 40.Crested serpent eagle. 41.Indian Pitta. 42.Indian Scops-Owl. 43.White-throated Kingfisher. 44.Grey Wagtail. 45.Shikra. 46.Crested Hawk-Eagle. 47.Yellow-billed Babbler. 48.Flame Minivet. 49.Purple Sunbird. 50.Purple-rumped Sunbird. 51.Blyth's Reed-Warbler. 52.Chestnut-headed Bee-eater. 53.Scaly-breasted Munia. 54. Oriental White-eye. 55.Intermediate Egret. 56.Little Spiderhunter. 57.Oriental Darter. 58.Cattle Egret. 59.Jerdon's Bushlark 60.Plain Prinia. 61.Common Tailorbird. 62.Asian brown flycatcher. 63. Asian Paradise-Flycatcher. 64.Common Kingfisher. 65.Ashy Prinia. 66.Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark. 67.Cotton Pygmy Goose. 68.Red-vented Bulbul. 69.Common myna. 70.Tawny Pipit. 71.Oriole. 72.Painted Stork. 73.Woolly-necked Stork. 74.Black Kite. 75.Greater Spotted Eagle. 76.Jacobin cuckoo (Pied Cuckoo).77.Yellow-wattled Lapwing.
MAMMALS:Chital.