A preliminary snapshot of food contents in gut of medically important Wall's Krait (Bungarus walli): an implication for snakebite prevention and snake conservation

Deb Prasad Pandey^1*Ram Chandra Piya²

• ¹Agriculture and Forestry University, Bharatpur, Nepal
• ²Tribhuvan University - Birendra Multiple Campus, Bhadrapur, Nepal

Dietary habit of Wall's Krait (Bungarus walli), which causes several fatalities annually in some South Asian countries, is poorly known. Herein, we aim to illustrate food contents in gut of preserved B. walli to determine their most favored prey animals. We examined gut contents of three specimens of B. walli preserved in snakebite treatment centers in Jhapa District of Nepal. We identified contents of their stomachs and intestines. We also collected information on time, date, and geographic locations where people were bitten or encountered with these kraits. Among the three examined specimens (male:female =1:2) of B. walli, two krait had consumed rodents and one had empty stomach. This is the first study of foods in guts of B. walli worldwide to our knowledge. The krait specimen having empty stomach and two specimens with freshly eaten rodents might indicate their access in houses or its outskirts in search of foods. To verify the food stimuli driving them towards human-dwellings and the similar feeding but dissimilar distribution patterns of medically important and similar looking B. walli and Common Kraits (Bungarus caeruleus), its movement ecology, sexual cycle, and foraging behavior should be documented and diet of additional specimens should be studied. However, this preliminary finding could contribute to understand feeding ecology of this krait intruding into residential areas and to formulate effective prevention strategies against its bite.