Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan

Vadivel Gopal and Masi Sadaiyan are snake catchers from the Irula tribe of Tamil Nadu, who learned the community’s skill of tracking and catching snakes from their fathers. They were jointly named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of social work, from Tamil Nadu ^[1].

Snakes for antivenom

Vadivel Gopal was born on 10 May 1964 and Masi Sadaiyan on 2 March 1965, both in Kancheepuram ^[2]. Both are licensed members of the Irula Snake Catchers’ Industrial Cooperative Society, and each has caught thousands of snakes for their venom, which is used to make antivenom, the medicine that treats snakebite ^[2]. They continue to help the Tamil Nadu government produce venom for antivenom ^[2].

Thailand and Florida

In 2016 the two went to the Sakaerat Environmental Research Station in Thailand to train local snake catchers and to catch venomous snakes for research, and each caught more than 20 venomous snakes of different species ^[2].

In 2017 they travelled to Florida in the United States to help deal with Burmese pythons, an invasive species in the state ^[2]. In about two months each of them caught 31 pythons, helping the authorities tackle the problem, and their skill won them attention around the world ^[2].