King cobra population at Pilikula bio park’s breeding centre increases by 38

It was a fascinating day at the Pilikula Biological Park’s king cobra captive breeding centre where as many as 38 king cobra eggs hatched by Friday.

“The eggs began hatching on July 7—the 76th day after the eggs were laid—and went on till Friday," said H Jayaprakash Bhandary, the director of the biological park, officially known as Dr Shivarama Karanth Biological Park.

Each king cobra hatchling is around one-and-a-half feet long.

Nagamani—the eight-year-old female king cobra who was rescued and moved to the park from Sampaje after suffering serious injuries—had laid the eggs after mating with Nagendra, the king cobra born in the park’s captive breeding centre in 2010-11.

The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) had recognised Pilikula as a centre for captive breeding in November 2007 and, soon after, funds were sanctioned for the construction of a spacious king cobra breeding centre.

“The captive breeding project was taken up as per the CZA directive. A natural forest has been created in the enclosure, which simulates conditions similar to the Western Ghats,” Bhandary said.

More than 100 king cobras have been bred at the centre, so far. In 2010, three king cobras laid about 100 eggs at the centre. While some of the king cobras bred at the centre were sent to various zoos across the country as part of the animal exchange programme, some were released into the forest. Currently, five of the 14 king cobras at the centre are female, with each of them embedded with a microchip to identify them as king cobras.

A team of officials, including senior scientific officer Jerald Vikram Lobo, veterinarian Dr Madhusdhan K, biologist Suma M S, and caretaker Dinesh Kumar K P were said to be monitoring the breeding of snakes at the centre.

Pilikula Biological Park closed to visitors

Due to flooding and trees getting uprooted, Pilikula Biological Park will be closed to the public till Monday. A tree reportedly fell outside the ostrich enclosure at the park. Deer, sambar deer, barking deer were moved from their regular enclosures due to flooding. Reportedly, some trees inside the park premises are bent so badly that they might be uprooted and fall at any time.

“Due to waterlogging on the path, a decision was taken to close the park keeping in mind the safety of the visitors and the animals. We are hopeful that the water level will recede inside the park with the decrease in rainfall,” biological park director H Jayaprakash Bhandary said.