Month after python & 22 eggs were rescued from drain, 22 hatchlings come to life in Mumbai
Over a month after a python and its 22 eggs were rescued, 22 hatchlings have now come to life out of the 22 eggs under the supervision of a group of zoologists and animal rescuers over a period of 37 days.
All the 22 hatched within a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday and have now been released in their natural habitat.
The mother python was, however, released in its natural habitat by the group — Resqink Association of Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) — after a medical check soon after it was rescued .
On May 18, while carrying out pre-monsoon desilting work in one of the drains at Mumbai's Eastern Express Highway (EEH), a group of workers appointed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) discovered a nine-feet-long reptile curled up underneath a culvert near Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli (East).
It did not take much time for the workers to realise that the reptile was an Indian Rock Python that was protecting its nearly two dozen eggs under its curled body.
Within minutes, the workers made a distress call to the Maharashtra Forest Department, following which a three-member team came to the spot.
'We went to the spot and realised that the python was a female one and it had laid eggs recently, and therefore, we rescued it from the spot and brought it to our shelter home,' Pawan Sharma, honorary wildlife warden and president of RAWW, told The Indian Express Tuesday.
Sharma said that his NGO gets rescue calls of this sort every year during the monsoon, mainly due to the waterlogging in Mumbai, due to which reptiles get washed away from their original habitat and end up in a different place entirely.
'According to the rules of the Wildlife Protection Act, we cannot keep the Python with us. Therefore, we released it in the natural habitat and our objective was to artificially hatch the eggs and make sure that all the hatchlings take birth,' Sharma said.
For artificially hatching the eggs, the zoologists used a plastic container as an incubator.
Chinmay Joshi, a zoologist who carried out the entire process, told The Indian Express that the container was filled with natural elements like soil, coconut husk and activated charcoal.
Joshi said that no artificial ingredient was used inside the incubator and items like activated charcoal filters out the gas and coconut husk has antibacterial properties in them.
'We would monitor the temperature continuously during the entire process of incubation and would maintain an average range of 21 and 23 degrees Celsius, while the humidity would range between 65% and 80%. This temperature and humidity range would be similar if they were hatched under natural conditions,' Joshi said.
When the temperature would fall below normal levels they used warm water to regulate it, he added.
Joshi said that the average cycle of incubation of rock python eggs ranges between 60 and 90 days and the rescued eggs were with them for 22 days.
'The hatchlings started to come out Monday and by Tuesday, all the 22 eggs got hatched and the baby pythons were immediately released in their natural habitat,' he added.
Joshi said that earlier similar methodologies have been followed to hatch eggs of several other reptiles like checkered Keelback water snakes, Montane Trinket snakes and Monitor Lizards.
'Our objective was to save as many eggs as we can. Here we have achieved a 100 per cent success rate mainly because we were able to replicate the entire natural habitat which included perfect temperature regulation as well,' Sharma said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
6 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
22 Indian rock pythons hatched in artificial incubator
MUMBAI: On Tuesday, 22 eggs of the Indian rock python were hatched in an artificial incubator, almost a month after they were rescued from drainage pipelines in Vikhroli by Mumbai forest officials and volunteers of the Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW). Indian rock pythons are generally found in some vegetation pockets around the city, mainly in Sanjay Gandhi National Park or its outskirts. On May 18, RAWW and the forest officials received a distress call from workers who were carrying out pre-monsoon cleaning off the Eastern Express Highway in Vikhroli. As the work was underway, the workers spotted a female python protecting her 22 eggs inside a drainage pipeline. 'No one touched the python, as the drainage line was attached to the highway. If it had moved, it would have caused a problem on the busy street,' said Pawan Sharma, founder of RAWW. Sharma said that the rescued Indian rock python then underwent medical tests. 'Once the veterinarian confirmed that it was healthy, we released it in its natural habitat,' he added. The location of the release remains undisclosed, as the Indian rock python is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, and is at risk of being hunted or poached. After the release of the python, the eggs were handed over to the NGO by the forest officials and stored in an incubator at the RAWW office in Mulund. The incubator was fashioned out of a cardboard box and cushioned with activated charcoal, soil, coco peat (the inner fibre of a coconut) and fertilisers to create a suitable environment for the eggs. The incubator also had an attached digital thermometer to maintain the required 27 to 29 degrees Celsius and the humidity level. 'We would check the temperature every two days,' said Chinmay Joshi, zoologist, who overlooked the process of hatchlings. Indian rock pythons are generally found in some vegetation pockets around the city, mainly in Sanjay Gandhi National Park or its outskirts, Thane creek, and Tungareshwar Sanctuary in Vasai-Virar. 'During the monsoons, they tend to take shelter in drainage pipes, as these provide an ideal habitat where food is also easily available, and the temperature is easy to maintain,' said Joshi. Pythons are a species that can hunt anything from a small rabbit to a spotted deer by themselves. Of the 22 eggs, about six to seven hatched on Monday, while the rest hatched by Tuesday evening. 'The fitness of the eggs was determined when the python was rescued,' said Sharma. 'Once the veterinarian gives us the go-ahead, we will release the baby snakes into their natural habitat, given that these species have natural mechanisms to survive in the wild.'
Indian Express
12 hours ago
- Indian Express
Month after python & 22 eggs were rescued from drain, 22 hatchlings come to life in Mumbai
Over a month after a python and its 22 eggs were rescued, 22 hatchlings have now come to life out of the 22 eggs under the supervision of a group of zoologists and animal rescuers over a period of 37 days. All the 22 hatched within a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday and have now been released in their natural habitat. The mother python was, however, released in its natural habitat by the group — Resqink Association of Wildlife Welfare (RAWW) — after a medical check soon after it was rescued . On May 18, while carrying out pre-monsoon desilting work in one of the drains at Mumbai's Eastern Express Highway (EEH), a group of workers appointed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) discovered a nine-feet-long reptile curled up underneath a culvert near Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli (East). It did not take much time for the workers to realise that the reptile was an Indian Rock Python that was protecting its nearly two dozen eggs under its curled body. Within minutes, the workers made a distress call to the Maharashtra Forest Department, following which a three-member team came to the spot. 'We went to the spot and realised that the python was a female one and it had laid eggs recently, and therefore, we rescued it from the spot and brought it to our shelter home,' Pawan Sharma, honorary wildlife warden and president of RAWW, told The Indian Express Tuesday. Sharma said that his NGO gets rescue calls of this sort every year during the monsoon, mainly due to the waterlogging in Mumbai, due to which reptiles get washed away from their original habitat and end up in a different place entirely. 'According to the rules of the Wildlife Protection Act, we cannot keep the Python with us. Therefore, we released it in the natural habitat and our objective was to artificially hatch the eggs and make sure that all the hatchlings take birth,' Sharma said. For artificially hatching the eggs, the zoologists used a plastic container as an incubator. Chinmay Joshi, a zoologist who carried out the entire process, told The Indian Express that the container was filled with natural elements like soil, coconut husk and activated charcoal. Joshi said that no artificial ingredient was used inside the incubator and items like activated charcoal filters out the gas and coconut husk has antibacterial properties in them. 'We would monitor the temperature continuously during the entire process of incubation and would maintain an average range of 21 and 23 degrees Celsius, while the humidity would range between 65% and 80%. This temperature and humidity range would be similar if they were hatched under natural conditions,' Joshi said. When the temperature would fall below normal levels they used warm water to regulate it, he added. Joshi said that the average cycle of incubation of rock python eggs ranges between 60 and 90 days and the rescued eggs were with them for 22 days. 'The hatchlings started to come out Monday and by Tuesday, all the 22 eggs got hatched and the baby pythons were immediately released in their natural habitat,' he added. Joshi said that earlier similar methodologies have been followed to hatch eggs of several other reptiles like checkered Keelback water snakes, Montane Trinket snakes and Monitor Lizards. 'Our objective was to save as many eggs as we can. Here we have achieved a 100 per cent success rate mainly because we were able to replicate the entire natural habitat which included perfect temperature regulation as well,' Sharma said.
Indian Express
14 hours ago
- Indian Express
Honoring a lost dream: Families of MBBS students find ways to remember their loved ones
Heartbroken but determined, the family of Rakesh Gobarbhai Diyora, student at BJ Medical College, who was among the on-ground casualties of the Air India plane crash, is set on fulfilling his dreams in whatever form they can. Diyora, a native of Bhavnagar district's Sosiya village, who belonged to a family of farmers, was a second-year MBBS student at the BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad. After receiving a Rs 1 crore support fund from UAE-based healthcare entrepreneur and philanthropist, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, the family plans to build a children's park in Sosiya village in Rakesh's memory. Rakesh, who aspired to become a pediatric heart surgeon, was fond of children, according to his family members. The financial aid was formally handed over to Diyora's kin along with other families on Tuesday. 'He was the first from our community to make it to a medical college. He loved children and wanted to become a pediatric heart surgeon. This financial support means a lot to our family but we want to make a children's park near our farm in Bhavnagar in his memory,' Vipul, the eldest of seven siblings, told The Indian Express. Rakesh was very bright since early childhood and wanted to become a doctor so that he could work for children, said Vipul, 33, who himself is a farmer. Rakesh, the youngest among seven siblings — five sisters and two brothers — completed his primary education from the village government primary school. Of five sisters, three are married. 'Was family's support system' Calling his son Aryan as the family's support system, Madhya Pradesh-based Ramhet Singh Rajput says the family is yet to come to terms with the loss. Aryan, a first-year MBBS student from Gwalior, was among the on-ground casualties when the London-bound Air India plane plunged into the medical college complex moments after take off, in Ahmedabad. 'Aryan hi pure ghar ka sahara tha. Sabki asha us par thi ki ek kisan ka bachha doctor banega (Aryan was the support system of the whole family. Everyone hoped that a farmer's child would become a doctor),' Ramhet told this paper. BJ Medical College reopened Tuesday, almost 13 days after the devastating Air India Flight 171 crash, even as students and the staff returned with a heavy heart. The first to receive support from Dr Shamsheer Vayalil on Tuesday were the families of the four young medical students who lost their lives in the crash. Each family was handed a cheque of Rs 1 crore. The other two families were of Manav Bhadu from Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan and Jayprakash Choudhary from Barmer in Rajasthan. Representatives from VPS Health, multinational healthcare group, from Abu Dhabi delivered the cheques in the office of Dr Minakshi Parikh, Dean of BJ Medical College, in the presence of Dr Rakesh S Joshi, Superintendent of the Hospital, and representatives of Junior Doctors Association. In addition to these families, the kin of six other deceased also received support. Among them were Dr Pradip Solanki, a neurosurgery resident, who lost his wife and brother-in-law; Dr Nilkanth Suthar, a surgical oncology resident, who lost three family members, and Dr Yogesh Hadat, a BPT student, who lost his brother. A financial aid of Rs 25 lakh each was given to the kin of the deceased. Further, based on a proposal from the Junior Doctors' Association in consultation with the Dean, 14 people, who were seriously injured during the crash, were also identified for financial support. They required hospitalisation for five or more days due to injuries such as burns, fractures, or internal trauma. Each received Rs 3.5 lakh. 'The beneficiaries included first and second-year MBBS students recovering from head, neck, and limb trauma. The list also included medical residents like Dr Kelvin Gameti and Dr Pratham Kolcha, who suffered extensive burns, and relatives of faculty members like Manishaben and her eight-month-old son, whose recoveries are ongoing,' said Hafiz Ali, representative of Dr Shamsheer Vayalil who came to met the families and extend the support. Dr Shamsheer on June 17, days after the crash on Atulyam hostel complex, had announced the distribution of Rs 6 crore among the victims of the tragedy. 'The dreams your loved ones carried were shared by all of us who believe in the calling to heal and serve. Please know that you are not alone. The medical community stands beside you,' he assured in a personal letter handed over to the families. Meanwhile, Dean Dr Minakshi Parikh, said, 'We are still coming to terms with an unimaginable loss. In moments like these, gestures of solidarity carry great meaning and remind us that the medical community stands together in times of grief.' Dr Shekar Parghi, a representative from Junior Doctors' Association, added, 'We've lost friends. The pain is real. What Dr Shamsheer did means a lot. It felt like someone who understands what it means to be one of us reached out in a moment when we needed it most.' After the handover, a special prayer gathering was held in memory of the departed. Faculty, students, and staff took part in the meeting.
