Common viper  Daboia palaestinae  It is a venomous and dangerous snake that thrives in agricultural and inhabited areas. The species reproduces very successfully in human environments, which leads to the expansion of its distribution and to hundreds of snakebite cases every year. Among other things, dealing with this phenomenon is done using snake catchers: people authorized by the Nature Authority to capture protected animals and release them into the wild. Handling the issue causes enormous harm to the natural environment, unnecessary killing of many animals, and damage to the status of nature conservation in the country as a whole. It is not entirely clear how we arrived at a situation in which wholesale capture of vipers in the city and their release in nearby wild areas is done in the name of nature protection, but one can refer to the factors driving this folly, which includes a bureaucracy and fee-collection system.

The viper is a protected reptile and it is forbidden to harm it, but this protection is official only: its sole purpose is to collect fees from catchers and payments from citizens, while completely ignoring its enormous environmental damage and the suffering of many people and animals. A snake captured in a house yard is moved from its place and released into the wild. In some of the catcher correspondences quoted here, it is made clear that the snakes are released far from any settlement: they are not returned to the place from which they came, but are moved away from the place where they were found. Indeed, individuals of a wild species are captured in a settlement and released in natural areas: one of the ultimate ways to harm species diversity, as well as the animals themselves. The viper reproduces in human settlements, and this policy accelerates its spread into the open areas adjacent to them and beyond. It has become very common in areas where it was not observed before. It is expected that within a short time the species will be found in the vicinity of settlements throughout the country. The actions are indeed carried out in the name of the viper, but of course it is not the only species affected by them.

The policy in place is not a point action taken out of necessity, as they try to present it - it is a policy. A very substantial group (in numerical terms) of officeholders is harming the natural environment and many animals knowingly. They operate a selective enforcement mechanism, employ friends, sign agreements, issue permits: the business runs and ticks along. Those scoundrels conceal from the public information indicating the harm they cause, in violation of the law (laws are for the weak), and as of today they are harming us all. This is not surprising, given the employment of criminals in their ranks and turning a blind eye to their deeds. For various and strange reasons related to pay, employment, and politics, this policy enjoys broad support from professional bodies, including many academics: it is important to emphasize that it has no scientific backing whatsoever and its impact is not monitored. Capturing animals that reproduce in inhabited areas and releasing them in wild areas is not a way to protect the country’s snakes but a proven way to harm the environment. Only corrupt authorities can institute this criminal policy, and only someone who operates a hotel and barbecue pits in the Judean Desert under the title "nature protection" can market it as such. The existing procedure harms the environment and many animals. It is clear to everyone that the matter has been completely neglected, and many Authority employees are also 'criminals' themselves in capturing protected snakes without a permit and even killing them. Therefore, someone who acts this way should not hide their actions or fear a legal claim from the Authority, whose role in this context is essentially limited to fee collection.

There are known methods for dealing with snakes that live near people. They are implemented in other cases and places: brilliant minds and groundbreaking innovative ideas are not needed here. Nevertheless, we will not leave the Authority people and the society of those worried about the fate of animals without practical advice; after all, this is surely one of the hot topics in discussions around the barbecue pits in nature reserves on weekends (do you have a membership card?), and with that we conclude.

At the first stage, all fee collection activities in connection with snake capture must be stopped immediately. The demand that the state stop profiting from this destructive activity may sound imaginary to some of us, but that is where one must begin. In parallel, catchers should be authorized frequently: professional sanitation workers. The state should bear the costs of training and operation, while the public should be required to thank them. The next stage is to renew and update the warning and capture methods and means: the number of unwanted encounters with snakes can be greatly reduced. For this purpose, this should be defined as one of the operational goals. For many years the efforts have been directed in the opposite direction. Once these are put into use, it will be possible to operate advanced monitoring tools and also examine trends in the abundance and distribution of other species living in inhabited areas. According to the picture they reflect, sanitation workers will be deployed: necessarily differently depending on the circumstances, location, and animal species, meaning: the fate of all snakes captured in a house yard is not necessarily the same. This is how it is done in other places in the world where snakes reproduce in inhabited environments.

To reassure the finance officials in the authorities, we will add that once the policy is established it will be possible to enforce the procedures and also carry out profitable fee-collection activities. Yes! במקום employing criminals in state authorities, one can act according to the law and stop them from causing harm!
Fortunately, the new government proves that such a reversal of roles is possible.

The first version of this publication was devoted entirely to the desired methods of action: technologies, monitoring tools, different models, and more, but it was edited and rewritten in order to focus attention on the main issue: the institutionalized harm to animals and the environment, in which many are complicit. Criminality and corruption, which receive appropriate representation in the state authorities, constitute an environmental hazard. In the case of the current government, it is an attack, on a geological scale.