His job is to go into the wild and find slithery snakes – and he loves it

Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir (right) with a pleased-as-punch client bravely holding an unusually docile red-headed krait. — Photo provided by MUHAMMAD ARIFF KHAIDHIR CHEK MAT

MANY of Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir Chek Mat’s clients come from as far as Europe, travelling thousands of kilometres to Malaysia just to take up his tour packages in the hopes of seeing snakes.

Snake tours – or “herping” – on which enthusiasts trudge along jungle trails and through muddy swamps to seek out and take photos of reptiles and amphibians are gaining ground in Malaysia.

“The response has really been encouraging, especially from foreigners and photographers who like our herpetofauna species.

“Many tourists come here just to take photos of these snakes as we have many interesting species,” says the licensed nature guide, who is also a photo enthusiast with 104 snake species captured on film in his collection.

The Penang-based guide once spent five hours waiting to take one action shot of a Cameron Highlands pit viper (Trimeresurus nebularis).

While many of his clients are from Australia, Europe, India, and Singapore, Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir also organises tours for locals, usually from schools, universities, and personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department.

Groups range from a minimum of five people up to 10 to 15 people with two guides, and are usually taken to Fraser’s Hill and Cameron Highlands as well as wilderness areas in Penang and Kedah.

“However, I would really recommend anyone interested in snakes to come to Kedah because it’s easier to find the reptiles in the forests here,” he says.

Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir photographing Malaysia’s most venomous snake, the Malayan krait – it requires a delicate approach and steely nerves. — Photo provided by MUHAMMAD ARIFF KHAIDHIR CHEK MAT

According to Malaysian Nature Society Herpetofauna Group coordinator Chan Yik Khan, Malaysia is indeed popular as a destination for snake tours nowadays.

“We are blessed with diverse types of habitats, such as mangrove forest, peat swamp forest, lowland forest, and montane forest. And each has its own unique diversity of snakes,” he explains.

In terms of rarity, Chan says there are a few species of snakes that have eluded herpetologists all over the world.

“Some great examples would be the royal tree snake (Gonyosoma margaritatum), the Malayan spinejaw snake (Xenophidion schaeferi), and the Malayan brown snake (Xenelaphis hexagonotus),” he says.

Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir lists the blunthead slug snake (Aplopeltura boa), western mangrove cat snake (Boiga melanota), Malayan pit viper (Calloselasma rhodostoma), Gua Wang Burma wolf snake (Lycodon cavernicolus) and the Sunda king cobra (Ophiophagus bungarus) – capable of producing 14ml of venom in one bite – as among the more interesting snake species in Malaysia.

The Malayan pit viper, according to the guide, has the record for the most number of bites in the country.

A research paper in 2021 revealed that between 1965 and 1971, there were 5,203 reported cases of venomous snake bites in Malaysia, 18 of which were fatal. Of these bites, 1,136 were confirmed as coming from the Malayan pit viper, while 3,765 were from unknown snakes because the victims couldn’t recognise them. Another 302 bites were by various other venomous snakes. Without treatment, the viper’s venom can cause disfigurement, says Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir.

Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir taking a picture of a reticulated python. — Photo provided by MUHAMMAD ARIFF KHAIDHIR CHEK MAT

“The Gua Wang Burma wolf snake is attractive but hard to find as it only lives in a limestone area in Gua Wang Burma in Perlis. But my friends and I found and recorded this snake in Perak a few years ago,” he says.

Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir’s personal favourite is the limestone eyelash pit viper (Trimeresurus ciliaris), with a photo of the snake in Perlis taking pride of place among his trophies.

Found along the Malaysia-Thai border, the chocolate brown-mint green viper is a newly discovered species, and from the side looks to have eyelashes, hence the name.

“The most interesting thing about this species is that it only lives in limestone areas in Perlis,” he explains.

With all this interest – which is still growing – it looks like Muhammad Ariff Khaidhir will be occupied for a long time.