Kannur: The efforts of a snake rescue team to give life to a clutch of abandoned snake eggs have succeeded and 47 snakelings will be released into their natural habitat on Wednesday.
The eggs of the Asiatic water snake were successfully hatched by the members of Malabar Awareness and Rescue Center for Wildlife (MARC) in an artificial incubator arranged in the house of Jishnu in Panankavu near Puthiyatheru, one of the members of the team.
They created an artificial habitat simulating the conditions from where they collected the eggs. They set up a container to create an optimal incubation environment and placed it atop another container filled with water to maintain proper temperature and humidity levels. The incubation container was then filled with soil collected along with the eggs from the spot and used dry leaves as a cushion to place the egg.
"We collected 50 eggs from two different locations in Narath near Puthiyatheru. After informing the forest department, we made the arrangements to hatch the eggs. It is crucial to have the right substrate for successful egg incubation we arranged it at home and it hatched in 43 days," Jishnu said.
The eggs were recovered on January 22 and 47 out of 50 hatched a few days ago. They have kept the little snakes under their observation to mature them enough to find their feed and decided to free them to a natural habitat where they should belong. It is not the first time MARC has engaged in such a 'rescue' operation. They have incubated the eggs of Pythons, Rat Snakes, Buff-Striped Keelbacks, and Turtles.
"Each life, whether human or animal, is important. As a member of the animal rescue team, we feel a deep connection to animals and have great affection and love towards them. ," Jishnu added.
MARC registered as an NGO, provides services in the Malabar region. MARC is planning to release 47 snakes in the mangrove biome in Kannur, as these snakes typically inhabit rivers, lakes and ponds.
