author(s)
Pavan Laxmanrao Jadhav, Shivaji P Chavan and Harshad Sudarshan Trimukhe

abstract
Snakes are one of the most wide spread vertebrates on the globe, mostly they prefer arid zone of the globe in terms of diversity. Data collected based on reports from volunteers, snake friends and rescuers 26 species of snakes reported from Nanded region of Maharashtra of that 10 species were venomous and 16 were semi-venomous and non-venomous. Road kills, encounter during work in agriculture fields and poor knowledge of the people in general about failure in distinguish between venomous and non-venomous species were main reasons behind destruction of snakes from this region. Major four venomous species Spectacled Cobra, Russell’s viper, Common Krait, Wall’s Sindh Krait and Saw scaled Viper. Occurrence of Python in the arid parts of SRTM University at Nanded away from main natural habitats was remarkable note of this research. Need of snake conservation to balance the ecosystem and to protect the food chain is main challenge identified. Continuous monitoring on snake species diversity of the region is suggested.