Chennai Snake Park snake, annulated sea snake, common wolf snake, common vine snake, striped keelback, checkered keelback, olive keelback, common trinket snake, spectacled cobra, banded sea krait and hook-nosed sea snake. Crocodilian species include the gharial, marsh crocodile, saltwater crocodile, Siamese crocodile, African dwarf crocodile, Nile crocodile and spectacled caiman. Other reptiles at the park include water monitor, Bengal monitor, Indian black turtle, Indian flapshell turtle, Indian star tortoise, spotted rock gecko and South Asian chamaeleon. The snakes are housed in glass-fronted enclosures and the crocodilians and the larger lizards are housed in open-air enclosures protected by parapet walls and wire mesh. The
Snake soup even had to open new branches to cope with the high demand. Nowadays, the number of stores specialising in snake-soup has dropped down to 20 because of food price inflation and soaring rent. More importantly, it is also difficult for snake-soup makers to find successors. Fewer people enter the profession because of perceived hardship, danger and difficulty involved in the process, which requires frequent contact with venomous snakes. Moreover, severe supply problems caused by bureaucracy involved in snake importation are matched by the erratic pattern of demand from customers. Typical snake soup recipe calls for at least two types of