An expert in his field, Chaman has been rescuing wild animals for the last twenty-five years in Udaipur and its surrounding areas.

Chaman Singh Chouhan is a wild animal rescue expert from Udaipur. He is also President of the Wild Animals Rescue Centre. He was born and brought up in Udaipur.

Chaman has been rescuing wild animals for the last twenty-five years in Udaipur and its surrounding area of up to 100 kms. He started working with street animals, but as time passed, he started getting calls to rescue snakes also. He claims he has rescued more than 5,000 snakes so far.

Describing his journey, Chaman says, earlier due to conservative thinking, the upper caste people were not even allowed to touch or help a street animal, even after seeing its dying condition. Chaman further says that because he also belongs to an upper caste, he also had to face a lot of opposition from his community regarding his work in the beginning.

Chaman believes that he has been born only to protect animals; there is no other purpose to his life. Initially, he started by rescuing street animals. After that, he started an NGO named Animal Law Society after meeting an American citizen.

Recalling the turning point of his life, Chaman says he once had an encounter with a Cobra who had been injured in a fight with a mongoose. The snake was severely injured and was attacking the humans of the nearby village. He and his friends had to kill that snake, as he didn’t know the technique for catching it. He then felt sorry for the animal and asked his American friend to search for a snake-catching trainer to train him to rescue the snakes.

Chaman came to know about Snehal Bhatt, a snake catcher from Vadodara, who had been rescuing snakes since she was twelve years old. He requested that she give him the training. He received training from her for seven days to catch the snakes.

When he came to Udaipur, he started rescuing snakes. He has so far rescued more than 5,000 snakes and learned that saving them is like saving a human, as they are an important part of the food chain.

Remembering his childhood, Chaman says that when he was a child, he had a friendship with a small dog. The dog used to accompany him wherever he went. Often he used to get scolded by his father for giving milk to the dog, which was hard to get in those days due to the scarcity of milk in the state. One day he found his dog dead because the municipal corporation wanted to get rid of the dogs in the colony. He was sad about losing his best friend and promised himself that he would never let any other animal die and would dedicate his life to protecting them.

Chaman shares important information debunking the common myths about snakes and snake biting, that snakes are deadly predators that are out to get you. He says many of the snake bites that occur are from non-venomous snakes, and only a few of these cases are fatal. Chaman Singh further explains that in the case of snake biting, there are some facts that you should keep in mind, which are as follows:

• Always talk positively with the victim of a snake bite, as it has been seen in most of the cases that people get panic attacks. Due to this, the patient’s blood pressure increases, and he could lose his life.

• Snake venom requires a body weight of at least 50 kg to spread throughout the body.

• Do not tie the bite area very tightly, so the venom could not paralyse the part.

• Approach the nearest hospital as quickly as you can.

• Do not treat the patient on your behalf; let the doctors treat you.

• Doctors will keep you under observation for three to four days after checking for the presence of venom in the patient’s blood to know the severity of the effects.

He believes no one could die from snake biting if he reaches the hospital on time, gets treated, and does not show any kind of negligence,

As a huge supporter of women's empowerment, Chaman says that to encourage women's participation in his field, he started the mission from his home and taught the nuances of this field to his daughter. He has also given training to women from different countries.

Chaman says he has run many awareness programmes for the protection of wild animals living near homes in cities and villages. He says everyone has to understand this fact: every animal is an important part of the food chain. If animals disappeared from this earth, the existence of humans would also end. We have to protect these wild animals, like mongoose, cats and street animals, to save the entire human race and the environment.

When asked about his role models, Chaman says he considers his wife to be his role model. He says his wife supported him in following his purpose in life.

Chaman encourages the new generation to enter this field if they have related formal education, like a bachelor's degree in Biology or Zoology, to pursue a career in this field. He could offer them the practical experience along with their formal education, which will ultimately fetch them good opportunities in research or forest departments.

Chaman advises the youth: "Don't join the throng. Make your own line. If you turn back, you'll see a crowd standing behind you."