Indian officials have arrested at least three snake rescuers for sharing stunt videos with poisonous snakes seeking social media fame and money.

Odisha forest officials arrested a snake rescuer, Rohit Meher, on July 20 on the charge of facilitating dangerous stunts with venomous snakes.

Videos uploaded by him on various social media platform allegedly show several girls - many of them minor - performing with adult cobras.

A video shows a minor girl kissing a cobra’s flare-up hood unmindful of the danger she is in. In a few videos, snakes are thrown at pets, which are then forced to tackle them.

Bargarh Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) P. Sandeep said the videos violated Wildlife Protection Act of India and are being probed.

Earlier, forest officials in Maharashtra had arrested a snake rescuer, Kunal Langde, and his teen associate on a similar charge. Officials found them possessing a video of a three-year-old child forced to pose with a deadly snake.

Honorary Wildlife Warden Subhendu Mallickm, who has been campaigning against stunt videos, said: “These videos get huge traffic on social media and many rescuers are sharing them for monetary gain. They are endangering minors and abusing snakes.” .