INDIA: Russell's Viper gives birth to 35 young ones in southern zoo
- ITN Source
INDIA: Russell's Viper gives birth to 35 young ones in southern zoo
A female Russell 's Viper snake in a zoo in southern Indian city Coimbatore gave birth to 35 young ones earlier this week. The highly venomous species is one of the 30 per cent among land snakes who give birth to their young ones like mammals, and do not lay eggs. Russell's vipers usually give birth to around 15- 20 young ones at a time, and 35 are an unusually large number. "I have been looking after snakes for the past 20 years now. This Russell's Viper has given birth to 35 young ones. Feeding them and taking care of so many babies is very exciting, though the poison of vipers is deadlier than cobras," said Sidharaman, the Coimbatore Zoo gamekeeper. The young ones can feed only on insects and flies and given their lack of predatory skills at the time of birth, their survival rate in the wild is very low. Zoo officials, however, are optimistic about the survival of these slithery siblings, and working hard to that effect. "I have been advised by the forest officials and other officials to leave them (the mother and new- born snakes) in the forest to save them (from premature death), but I have been trying hard to maintain all these 35 young ones by feeding them flies and insects in healthy conditions," said S. Thirukumaran, Director, Coimbatore Zoo. The big family is quite a hit with visitors to the zoo, especially the young ones bumping into each other, almost getting tied in knots. "I have never seen so many baby snakes. It is for the first time that I have chanced to see them. I hail from a village in a rural area but I never got to see something like this before. It is really nice and the children are enjoying them too," said Raja Ranjan, a spectator. Of the 250 species of snakes found in India, only four are venomous. The Russell's Viper is one of them, along with the Krait, the Cobra and the King Cobra. Vipers are among the longest of the poisonous snakes, with the Indian variety growing to lengths of 11.5 metres. Characterized by heavy, rough scaled bodies with vertical eye pupils, vipers are found very commonly in India across plains and on hills up to an altitude of 3,000 metres above sea level. Snakes are deeply embedded in India's social and religious spheres, and figure as prominent characters in mythologies and folklores.
ITN Source | August 11, 2006
