KARACHI: After almost a decade, the zoo has seen the birth of 25 Russell’s vipers in a single litter, raising the number of this species to 31 at the facility.

The last births in Russell’s vipers happened in 2008. The zoo lost the young ones within a few days of their birth whereas their parents survived for some years.

“The babies are currently being kept with their parents but we will separate them from one another as this species is known to be cannibalistic,” said Dr Mansoor Qazi, the zoo director, adding that the young ones were being fed with worms and bugs.

Births in deer, black bucks, nilgai, rhesus monkeys, blue peacocks, crocodiles and tortoises also reported

Unlike most snakes, which lay eggs, Russell’s vipers give birth to live young ones. “This snake is viviparous (giving birth to living young that develop within the mother’s body rather than hatching from eggs) and produces up to 50 young ones in a litter. The gestation period is three to six months,” added Dr Qazi.

The Russell’s viper, he said, was one of the four large snakes found in the subcontinent and known to be highly venomous after krait, another large snake.

“The species has no problem living in highly populated areas. It’s responsible for causing the most snakebite incidents and deaths among all venomous snakes. Its venom is used in different medicines,” he said.

Other births

Apart from vipers, the zoo has also reported a single birth in fallow deer, four in white fallow deer, three in black bucks, two in nilgai, one in rhesus monkeys, one in spotted deer, three in blue peacocks, 10 in crocodiles and three in tortoises.

“We have got births in spur-thighed tortoises, an endangered African species living here since 1990s whereas the crocodiles were brought in 1980s. At that time, however, the crocodiles were not paired and the zoo later got females with the help of the Sindh wildlife department,” Dr Qazi said, sharing how these old zoo reptiles were brought in.

He also expressed his desire to bring a pair of gavials, also known as gharial, a type of Asian crocodile distinguished by their long, thin snout.

The zoo, he recalled, was left with one male gavial in 2003-04, which was given away to the Lahore zoo, having two females of the same species, under an animal exchange programme.

“Unfortunately, however, they all died one by one. It would be a great animal recovery effort if we could bring this species to Pakistan and raise it here,” he said.

According to information available on World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan, the gharial is considered to be one of the most critically threatened of all crocodilians, becoming alarmingly close to extinction in the 1970s.

“Gharial are extremely rare in both India and Nepal, virtually extirpated in Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh, and probably extinct in Myanmar.

“Reports of gharial remaining in the Sindh region of Pakistan are persistent. But, there appears to be a very small number, possibly only one or two individuals. The species is virtually extinct in Pakistan,” the website says.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2018