Meet Zoran Sinovcic, one of Aoteroa's snake handlers

Dan Moskovitz

One of the privileges unique to living in Aotearoa is how safe our nature is. Aside from the very shy katipō (which hasn’t killed anyone since 1923), there are no truly dangerous animals in New Zealand. This is partially due to how Aotearoa, alongside Ireland, Iceland and some smaller islands, are one of the few countries on Earth with no snakes. 

That hasn’t stopped the slippery specimens from trying to join the party, however. New Zealand catches a handful of snakes at the border each year, mostly hiding in pipes, furniture and other imported items. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), which runs our biosecurity system, takes the threat very seriously. It’s for good reason. Native mammals, reptiles, and birds in Florida have been decimated by an invasion of Burmese pythons. Closer to home, the naturally snake-free Pacific island of Guam lost all but two of its native bird species following an invasion of brown tree snakes.

So alongside 14 others, MPI snake handler Zoran Sinovcic leads Aotearoa’s defence. But in a nation with no native snakes, this begs the question: What does a snake handler in New Zealand do most of the time? And why become one in the first place?

“When I was a kid in Croatia I used to go around the edge of town to find a snake and catch it. 

“There was one popular snake called the Bjelouška or European grass snake. If you played with a bit too much it would pretend to be a cobra, rear up and make sound. Which is interesting, because Europe has had no cobras for six and a half million years.

“Then I moved to slightly more dangerous snakes, like the European Horned Viper.”

For reference, the Horned Viper is the most dangerous snake in Europe. 

These days, Sinovcic’s job rarely involves snakes, as he works elsewhere in the biosecurity department. MPI’s snake handlers are all staff from other areas skilled in snake handling, which requires two years of training in Australia. 

So how do you safely catch a snake?“You want to offer them some sort of shelter. When you place an empty bag in front of them, some will just go into the bag. You then use your snake-catching hook to pick up the bag safely.

“Whatever you do, you do with the least possible disturbance. The nature of the snake is that they're reclusive, not aggressive. So you have to keep conditions relaxed.”

Sinovcic says you always find a snake where you least expect it. One occasion saw some washing machines imported into New Zealand get through several stages of biosecurity, before people noticed the rope at the bottom of one machine wasn’t rope. 

Aside from the Bjelouška, Sinovcic says his favourite snakes are the American Blue Racer and the African Boom Viper.