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  • snakes have found a safe space in Myanmar.

  • Ah, global hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

  • For five years, this Buddhist temple in the city of Yangon has been taking in pythons and cobras and vipers otherwise destined for the black market.

  • The sanctuary is run by Will a tha a monk of the temple ruler.

  • E always check in on their health every morning.

  • I feel from the bottom of my heart that they are my sons and daughters.

  • The snakes are usually caught in or near homes and brought here by members of the community.

  • According to Buddhist beliefs, saving a life will earn the merit though Will Athas Mission has an environmental angle as well.

  • You know the that.

  • If I don't save these snakes and shelter them here, the snakes will be sold off in the black market.

  • If so, the python would be extinct in Myanmar in the future.

  • I believe that losing even one animal species will cause problems with nature even though we don't know specifically about their benefit to nature, the species air helping our environment.

  • Conservationists say snakes are often smuggled to neighboring countries like China and Thailand, where they're eaten are used to make traditional medicine.

  • The International Union for Conservation of Nature has sounded the alarm about their shrinking numbers listing the Burmese python as vulnerable in Southeast Asia.

  • Will Otha has made it part of his job to get the residents of his sanctuary back to the wild.

  • Working with the Forest Authority, he releases those.

  • He feels already hoping there Never caught again.

  • Yeah, you go Well, yeah.

snakes have found a safe space in Myanmar.

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