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Kiyoshi Sasaki, an OSU zoology doctoral student, loves snakes and is helping to conserve their populations in his native Japan.
"Japan is losing many of its snakes because development is pushing them out, and because old belief systems have changed," Kiyoshi says. He is on a mission to educate people about the many benefits that snakes bring to the environment and to encourage them to revere snakes as they once did.
Kiyoshi says it's important to conserve snakes for many reasons, including the fact that they serve as a food source for lots of raptors, some of which are threatened or endangered, and snakes control rodents and mice populations so humans get fewer diseases.
Whenever he goes back to Japan, Kiyoshi works to educate people about snakes by talking with various citizens and visiting elementary schools with some of his snake friends.
He began his conservation program when he was a senior with the help of his advisor and mentor, Dr. David Duvall, OSU zoology professor.
"Dr. Duvall guided me, beginning with my undergraduate work and helping me expand my research into a Ph.D. program," Kiyoshi says. "He's a very strong scientist, but also a person who considers my needs and the needs of local peoples who are affected by snakes."
Kiyoshi says Duvall has always encouraged him and is the reason he came to the United States to study.
Snake conservation in Japan is a new area of interest to the country, and Kiyoshi and Duvall are pioneers in the field.
Kiyoshi says that in earlier times, many Japanese people believed that snakes were gods, which meant humans treated snakes with great respect and reverence. During these times, snake populations flourished, but since Japan has become more developed and westernized, people tend to think all snakes should be eliminated.
He hopes to help restore at least some of the respect Japanese people once had for snakes and to make sure snakes continue to help maintain a balance in Japan's ecological system.
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