27 python hatchlings released in India by wildlife officials

 

 --

 Forest officials in India's eastern Khordha district released 27 Indian python hatchlings into the wild after the eggs were successfully incubated artificially.

Authorities said 30 eggs were collected in the first week of May after a pregnant python was spotted by wildlife officials and villagers in the Chandaka forest range. Twenty-seven of the eggs hatched and the young snakes measured about 60 cm. The hatchlings were released back into the Chandaka forest.

The non-venomous Indian python is widely found in the Indian subcontinent and is different from the Burmese python, which is endemic to Southeast Asia. It grows to 3 metres and is not considered dangerous to humans.

It is classified as near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.