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Travel News, August, 2006

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Russell Viper gives birth to 35 in Coimbatore Zoo

       Coimbatore: Coimbatore Zoo officials were in for a big surprise recently when a female Russell Viper gave birth to 35 babies. The event was unusual as these reptiles give birth to maximum of 15-20 children at one time. A highly venomous species of snake, the Russell Viper is a land snake that does not lay eggs. "I have been looking after snakes for the past 20 years now. This Russell Viper has given birth to 35 young ones. Feeding them and taking care of so many babies is very exciting, though the poison of the vipers is deadlier than that of cobras," said Sidharaman, a gamekeeper at the Zoo. Young vipers can feed only on insects and flies, and given their lack of predatory skills at birth, their survival rate in the wild is very low. Zoo officials said they were optimistic about the survival of these slithery siblings. "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). 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 of the Coimbatore Zoo.

     Meanwhile, the snakes are quite a hit with visitors to the zoo. The newborns, which have dark brown spots and lustrous skin, are attracting huge crowds. "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 visitor. Of the 250 species of snakes found in India, only four are venomous. The Russell Viper is one of them. The other three are the Krait, the Cobra and the King Cobra. Vipers grow to a maximum length of 11.5 metres characterized by heavy, rough scaled bodies with vertical eye pupils. Vipers are very common in India. They are an endangered species in India protected by the Wildlife Protection Act.
-Aug 7,  2006


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