Situated about 9km west of
My Tho City, Dong Tam Snake Farm in Binh Duc Commune, Chau Thanh District, TienGiang Province is the largest centre for snake rearing and snakebite treatment
in the Cuu Long River Delta. It has long been an interesting tourist site for
domestic and foreign visitors.
Dong Tam Snake
Farm was established on October 27, 1979 in an area full of mines and barbed
wire left by the US army.
The farm has the tasks of doing scientific
research, rearing and conserving precious species of snakes, medicinal plants
and animals, producing traditional medicines and providing first aids and
treatment for people who are bitten by poisonous snakes in the region. Dong Tam
Snake Farm has become a scientific center with great achievements in curing
people.
In 1989 it was awarded the title “Labour
Hero” by the State.
The farm covers 12ha. It has separated areas
to rear precious species of snakes, such as the king cobras, burrowing cobras
and ringhals, another to grow medicinal plants, a hospital for snakebite
treatment, a research department, an animal reserve and a snake museum.
We followed lieutenant-colonel Vu Ngoc
Luong, Deputy Director of Dong Tam Snake Farm when we visited the farm. We were
horrified and also excited when we saw the cobras nearly 4 meters in length and
18-20kg in weight lying curled up with an upright flattened head and sparkling
eyes. They seemed to be preparing to attack us. The cobras are a venomous
elapid species. They are considered the “king” of the snakes and are classified
in the “E” grade in Vietnam’s Red Book. They crawl as fast as the clouds
floating in the wind so they are called cloud tigers. Each year the cobras
deliver only a one baby snake. At present, Dong Tam Snake Farm has about 200
parent cobras and many young snakes from 3 months to a year of age.
The cobras are a precious and venomous
species. They are classified in the “T” grade and protected by the State. One
gram of their venom can kill 160 people with an average weight of 60kg.
Another elapid species which mainly lives in
the mountainous and midland areas can eject their venom 1.4-1.6 meters away, so
visitors should stay far away from them. The vipers always lurk in green
leaves. They look gentle and slow but when they are in danger, they strike as
fast as lightning. The venom of this species will rupture the blood vessels,
causing a cardiac collapse that makes the victim die.
On average, each year, the centre receives
over 1,000 victims of poisonous snakes. In 2005 it received over 10 billion VND
from the State, ministries and sectors to build an emergency ward with
facilities, machines and equipment for snakebites treatment.
Since March, 2006, the patients here have
been treated free of charge. Over the past decades the centre has saved the
lives of thousands of people bitten by venomous snakes.
It has a team of experts and qualified
physicians with experience in snakebite treatment. The centre also extracts the
venom of the king cobras and vipers to produce medicines and serums for
snakebite treatment and it also grows Vietnamese medicinal plants. It has
hundreds of categories of medicines for different diseases, from influenza and
headache to heart, liver and stomach diseases.
Dong Tam Snake Farm is a unique site in the
My Tho-Thoi Son Isle-Dong Tam Snake Farm tour. At the farm the tour guide will
help visitors learn about each species of snakes, their characteristics and
physiology, how to distinguish venomous and non-venomous snakes so that they
can survive when bitten by the snakes. Here, visitors seem to be lost in a
kingdom of hundreds of species of snakes.
There are many snakes winding themselves
around the branches. Visitors also have an opportunity to see many rare and
precious species of amphibians, such as pythons, crocodiles and turtles which
are in danger of extinction in Vietnam. Dong Tam Snake Farm has a museum with
over 40 specimens of snakes which have been listed in Vietnam’s record book.
This is the first snake museum in Vietnam.
Besides learning about the snakes, visitors
will enjoy the quiet atmosphere of the fruit gardens which are reminiscent of a
peaceful countryside. Every year, about 30,000-40,000 domestic and foreign
tourists visit this area.
And Dong Tam Snake Farm's Video:
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