Posted on December, 14 2011

The day Agoes Soeyitno, WWF Species Coordinator for East Kalimantan, was bitten on his right leg by a viper began like any other. It was Friday the 15th of July and he was in Sebuku in East Kalimantan’s Nunukan District tracking a ‘roving’ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) that had been crossing the border between Kalimantan and Sabah.

He and a team were in the field to better understand the movement of the Malaysian/Indonesian elephant. The animal – with a home range encompassing palm oil territory, forest concession land and village settlements – was causing conflict in the area by damaging plantation and cultivation areas. Armed with a GPS system Soeyinto followed trails scanning for footprints and scratches on the trees.

Six days in, while walking up a slope very close to the Sabah boundary line, he felt a sudden hot surge of pain. Jumping back Soeyinto saw what he described as a blackish green snake with a triangle head. He knew then he had been bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in the forest.

After this, the day ended unlike any other.

“I felt so much pain,” he said. “I had to injure my own leg to remove some of the toxins and then I tied my leg tightly.” But the venom, which he also tried to remove using leeches from the forest, spread quickly and after 15 minutes his leg had swelled and he couldn’t walk.

Suffering from a fever he was cared for overnight before leaving on a stretcher in the morning carried through the jungle by WWF forest concession staff and local people. During this 12-hour trip he tried to drink as much water and eat as much food as he could to stay strong.

From the moment he felt the poison enter his leg to the time he reached medical assistance in Malinau took two days. After three days in Malinau he was transferred to a hospital in Samarinda.
To this point Soeyinto has had five surgeries. Part of his treatment has been the removal of muscle affected by the snake poison. “I was afraid they were going to amputate my leg so I kept praying,” he said. “I was so grateful this did not happen.”

After a total of two and a half months in hospital Soeyitno has now been back at work in the WWF Samarinda office for over a month and is receiving regular physiotherapy on his legs.
He is still involved in preparing further elephant surveys looking at habitat and populations in East Kalimantan, but for now is restricted to the office. “I am very sad because I am unable to conduct this survey and go back to the forest,” he said.

The doctor said it would take one to two years to recover but after enduring so much Soeyinto is positive he will get back there one day. With his wound healed he is able to walk and break into a short run. “While it might never recover to 100 per cent I must do lots of exercise to train my leg so it will go back to a normal condition.”

Soeyinto’s advice to people going into the jungle; wear safety boots.