Chinese doctor dedicates himself to saving new snake

In 1984, doctor Chen Yuanhui treated an old man for snakebite and was curious when the man described the snake. It wasn't one he or anyone else with a scientific background had ever heard of. It was five years before he found someone who had captured a group of what are now called the Mangshan pit viper. Chen devoted his life to studying and protecting the endangered species. He kept seven in his home at one point. The local people, some of whom have a totem apparently based on the large green viper, appreciate him so much they commissioned a statue of the doctor and his "patient."