Bhubaneswar: In a rare incident, 27 baby pythons hatched from their eggs under the vigil of Snake Helpline members in Minchinpatna range office under Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary on Wednesday.
The hatchlings slithered out of their shells after 55 days of care by the Snake Helpline members, who had shifted the eggs from a stone quarry site at Niali in Khurda district to the range office for artificial hatching.
According to Snake Helpline general secretary Subhendu Mallick, some people spotted a python in a stone quarry in the village on May 5 and informed the forest officials.
The forest officials along with Snake Helpline members and some snake charmers reached the spot to rescue the python. During this time, Subhendu noticed the snake guarding its eggs and they decided not to catch it but barricade the area and protect the eggs from predators round-the-clock.
Accordingly, Haldia range staff were engaged to guard the eggs by barricading the area. After 18 days the mother python left the place, following which the forest officials released it in Chandaka Sanctuary.
The helpline members first shifted the 30 eggs to Niali Primary School but due to fear of ants, those were taken to Minchinpatna range office for artificial hatching.
The first hatchling emerged on June 29. Each egg weighed 250 gm and measured 8-10 cm long & 6.5 cm in diameter.
The eggs were under the care of Helpline members Sika Saloni, Lalit Mohan Panda, Ashish Behera, Durga Madhab Mohapatra and Hemant Behera.
It was decided to release the snakelets at three different places in Chandaka Sanctuary to avoid competition for food.
Haldia Ranger Jayakrushna Panda said it is a historic moment. A cake was also cut to celebrate the successful hatching.
