Snakebite kills an estimated 100,000 people annually, driving fear-based persecution of snakes that kills millions of individual animals, most of which are non-venomous.
Snakes killed by humans typically experience death from blunt trauma, machete blows, or prolonged suffering after injury. Non-venomous snakes killed out of misidentification or fear represent a massive, unnecessary welfare loss. Venomous snakes that strike humans in defensive situations and are then killed represent individual welfare costs of human-snake conflict. The ecological cascades from snake population reduction — rodent irruptions, secondary pest animal increases — harm wildlife and human communities alike.