Rare brown morph of long-snouted vine snake found in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

Time of India

15-05-2025

Rare species of Ahaetulla longirostris (Photo provided by field director of Dudhwa tiger reserve, H Rajamohan)
PILIBHIT: A multidisciplinary
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
(DTR) team recorded a
rare brown morph
of the
long-snouted vine snake
(
Ahaetulla longirostris
) in Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary.
The discovery was made on May 12 during a routine tiger patrol by biologists, veterinarians, and frontline staff.
Dr Rangaraju T
, deputy director of the reserve, described the discovery as a landmark, noting that this is only the second such record in India—and the first in Uttar Pradesh—of a brown-coloured
Ahaetulla longirostris
.
Last year, a green morph of the same species was documented in the Sonaripur range during the translocation of greater one-horned rhinoceroses.
The field director of DTR,
H Rajamohan
, told TOI that the brown
Ahaetulla longirostris
was first found in Bihar in April the previous year, after which it was spotted in DTR. A team of biologists and veterinarians conducted a health assessment of the rare snake, confirming its vitality and intact physical condition before releasing it in the same forest pocket, he said.
'The long-snouted
vine snake
is a mildly venomous and arboreal colubrid in innate characteristics, with a laterally compressed body, sharply pointed snout, and horizontal pupils. This species was believed to be confined to the Western Ghats based on sporadic photographic records, but the sightings of both green and brown
Ahaetulla longirostris
in DTR have certainly enhanced India's reptilian database,' he said, adding that 'this salient discovery has evolved new dimensions of studying polymorphism, microhabitat preferences, and species distribution in the Indo-Gangetic region.'
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It also strengthened the concept that robust patrolling combined with ecological literacy is always productive for documenting hidden biodiversity.
With the new discoveries, Dudhwa has not remained only a wild destination of tigers, one-horned rhinos, and elephants, but it has ventured to evolve into a repository of lesser-known and ecologically vital species, said Dr Rangaraju T.
'We are now planning, along with our scientific partners, to expand the reserve's biodiversity monitoring framework, encourage herpetological surveys, and build local capacity for the identification and conservation of cryptic species, ensuring that a full ecological spectrum of Dudhwa continues to emerge on the horizon of biodiversity research,' he said.