Teenage Volunteer Shares His Passion for Snakes

Fifteen-year-old snake enthusiast and volunteer Nathan Rusli handling a king cobra. A handler with a python. (Photo courtesy of Nathan Rusli)

When we encounter enthusiastic young people like Nathan Rusli, who is turning his passion for snakes into a chance to teach others about his favorite reptile, then we really realize there are no limits on finding ways to volunteer.

The fifteen-year-old student at Santa Laurensia School said animals have been part of his life from a very early age.

“I have been interested in animals since I was two,” Nathan said.

“At around five, when I was in kindergarten, I had my first encounter with a cobra. It was a ditch where I was looking for frogs. When I touched it, it spread its hood and made me run. I was scared but at the same time fascinated. Since then I have read books about snakes and learned from as many sources as I could.”

Nathan’s enthusiasm brought him to volunteer to help rescue animals from the age of ten, when he got involved with JAAN (Jakarta Animal Aid Network), an organization that deals with domestic and wild animals.

He hasn’t stopped since. “I’ve learned to interact with all ranges of animals, from monkeys, dogs, cats, eagles to crocodiles and lorises,” Nathan said. “But snakes were always my ultimate passion.”

That passion has led him to be active in a number of initiatives closely related to reptiles, from the reptile park, where he received training on how to handle snakes to Yayasan Ular Indonesia (Indonesian Snake Foundation). He even started teaching his friends at school.

“Whenever there was extra time after classes, teachers would start calling me to talk about snakes,” Nathan said. “When I was thirteen, I even trained security guards on how to handle snakes.”

Nathan’s fascination with snakes goes beyond what we normally see in our everyday life. Once he decided to handle a king cobra. “One of the most amazing experiences of my life was when I saw my first king cobra in the wild,” the enthusiastic teenager said. “King cobras are extremely rare now due to overhunting and their slow rate of reproduction. I was called to a fishing area because there was a snake living in a hole. My first time handling the king cobra, I was very excited and nervous at the same time.”

As time passed, Nathan’s dedication blossomed into something bigger and he eventually started to give presentations at the Taman Mini reptile park to groups of visitors and to give trainings to schools and communities. Now Nathan is determined to bring his passion to the next level, by launching a snake education center in Pantai Indah Kapuk, where he will give regular open classes to share everything he knows about snakes.

“The education center will be a place where people can learn about snakes and their conservation,” Nathan said. “It will educate people about why snakes shouldn’t be killed and how to identify which ones are dangerous. A collection of dead snake specimens along with posters and booklets as well as live snakes that are commonly found in the area will be present.”

For this cause, Nathan would need a total donation of approximately Rp 5 million ($415) to build the enclosures as well as for the maintenance of the animals.

This unique way of volunteering is impressive. Not only is Nathan very passionate, but he is also willing to transmit everything he knows to others, starting from very basic interesting facts that some of us wouldn’t normally think about. For instance, did you know that snakes can survive for months without food due to their slow digestion and their ability to get energy from sunlight?

When asked why it’s so important for him to invest his time teaching people about snakes, Nathan said he hopes people can distinguish real facts from the misleading information that we often get. For example, we shouldn’t forget that snakes are an important part of the ecosystem. They are predators of rats, which are pests that harm crops and cause diseases. People also commonly have the mistaken belief that a snake’s ultimate goal is to attack people.

“Snakes are not here to kill people,” Nathan explained. “Just like humans, they defend themselves when they feel under threat. And only 20 percent of snakes species are dangerous to humans. This is why the ability to identify them is important. So that people know whether a snake is dangerous or not if they do encounter one.”

Fifteen-year-old tenth grader Eddy, a close friend of Nathan, is enthusiastic to help out with the project. “I share the same passion for snakes,” said the Bina Tunas Bangsa student who learned to handle snakes two years ago. “So I’ll be happy to volunteer at the center and at the same time expand my knowledge. It’s also a perfect opportunity to invite people around me to explore the world of snakes and learn important information.”

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