King Cobra Empire at Pilikula Nisargadhama

[email protected] (CD Network)
August 1, 2011

Mangalore, August 1: The country's only King Cobra (in captivity) breeding centre at the Dr Shivaram Karanth Biological Park at Moodushedde near here marked the success with 32 out of 147 eggs laid by three female King Cobras hatching increasing the slithery tribe by 32.

Authorities of the Park has confirmed that 32 out of 147 eggs laid by 'Rani', 'Nagaveni' and 'Nagamani' - female King Cobras at the park procreating late on Sunday and juveniles started emerging from the shells ending 134-day long vigil of authorities.

Park Director H Jayaprakash Bhandary informed that the 1,000 square feet exclusive enclosure for captive breeding of king cobra, the only one of its kind in the world, has all the necessary biological requirement of the King Cobra,” and added, “So far, captive breeding of king cobra has not taken place anywhere in the world. Though a few others claim to have taken up captive breeding, there are no proper records for the same.”

"However, this process of breeding has been documented and it will help to analyse the scientific insight in to world of King Cobras and their reproduction cycle," he said.

The baby King-cobras which measures at 17 inches during birth carry enough venom to kill two fully grown adults in a matter of half-an-hour, Jayaprakash said.

Scientifically known as Ophiophagus hannah King cobras have always inspired awe and fear among human beings. Its venom can even kill an elephant, said Mr Bhandary.

“The enclosure would be as natural as its natural habitat,” he added.

The Park has already installed microchips in all the 14 king cobras. All the king cobras have also been named. Their names include Nagendra, Nagini, Karkotaka, Raja, Manju and Joy among others. Joy is named after a person (Joy Mascarenhas) in Ujire who rescued the snake and brought it to the Park!

Pilikula Biological Park is the biggest Snake House in Karnataka and the only King Cobra Breeding Centre (in captivity) in India, selected by the Central Zoo Authorities in New Delhi in November 2007.

There are 14 king cobras in Pilikula, the largest collection in the world for cobras in captivity, informs Gerald Vikram Lobo, the Scientific Officer at the Park.

The longest king cobra in the Park measures 15 feet. In all, the Park has nearly 30 species of snakes numbering 125 (in 22 enclosures) including the seven endangered species - King Cobra, Indian Cobra, Checkered Keelback, Striped Keelback, Indian Rock Python, Rat Snake and Russell's Viper. If you think 125 is a small number, you are wrong, as the Park authorities very frequently leave the snakes in the reserve forests in Charmadi, Someshwar and Kudremukh.

During the captivity, Vikram Lobo, Scientific Officer, Roshan Menezes, Assistant Curator, K Dinesh and Ashok, caretakers and J R Lobo, Executive Director of the park have extended their cooperation, said Mr Bhandary.


KNG_1

KNG_2

KNG_3

KNG_4

KNG_5

KNG_6

KNG_7

KNG_8

KNG_9

KNG_10

KNG_11

KNG_12

KNG_13

KNG_14

KNG_15

KNG_16

KNG_17

KNG_18

KNG_19

KNG_20

KNG_21

KNG_22

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 29,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 29: The police have registered a suo motu case against some of the youths who raised life threat slogans against former Karnataka Minister and Congress MLA UT Khader during the pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rally here on January 27.

A video of the incident that went viral on social media showed the youths belonging to BJP and other saffron outfits raising slogans that they will “cut off his limbs and chop off his head if necessary” during the rally organised by the BJP in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act on Monday.

Though Mr Khader did not file a complaint, the Congress party had urged the police to register a suo motu case.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 30,2020

Bengaluru, May 30: A city corporator in Bengaluru was sent into quarantine on Saturday after he tested positive for the coronavirus infection, officials said.

"Yes, I have tested positive," Padarayanapura municipal ward corporator Imran Pasha told some news channels.

The JDS corporator said he would quarantine himself as per the regulations.

The entire area where Pasha lives was cordoned off.

Health workers reached there in an ambulance and gave him a personal protection gear to wear and he was taken to a designated hospital.

Reacting to the development, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka claimed Pasha hardly paid heed to the COVID-19 regulations.

"He rushes to all those places wherever there are positive cases...," Ashoka told reporters.

Padarayanapura was declared as a containment zone earlier with a few cases coming to the fore.

It was in this area where some policemen and health workers were attacked when they went to quarantine a few primary and secondary contacts of a COVID-19 patient about a month ago.

Following the incident, about 125 people were arrested, and later quarantined after a few of them tested positive.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 19: COVID-19 cases in Karnataka has breached the 8,000 mark, as the state on Friday reported 337 new cases and ten related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 8,281 and death toll to 124.

Also, total discharges in the state breached 5,000 mark, with 230 patients getting discharged in a day after recovery.

As of June 19 evening, cumulatively 8,281 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 124 deaths and 5,210 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

It said out of 2,943 active cases, 2,865 patients are in isolation at designated hospitals and are stable, while 78 are in ICU.

The ten dead include- seven from Bengaluru urban, two from Bidar and one from Vijayapura.

Out of the 337 new cases, 93 are returnees from other states, majority of them from neighboring Maharashtra,while 11 are those who returned from other countries.

The remaining cases include contacts of patients earlier tested positive, those with history of SARI and ILI, among others.

Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru accounted for 138 cases, followed by Kalaburagi 52, Ballari 37, Hassan 18, Dakshina Kannada 13, Davangere 12, Udupi 11; Bidar 10, six each from Mysuru and Koppal, four each from Yadgir, Kolar and Bengaluru rural, three each from Mandya, Dharwad, Chikkaballapura, Bagalkote and Ramanagara, two each from Tumakuru and Chikkamagaluru, and one each from Belagavi, Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga.

Kalaburagi district tops the list of positive cases, with 1,126 infections, followed by Udupi 1,050 and Bengaluru urban 982.

Among discharges Udupi tops the list with 944 discharges, followed by Kalaburagi 646 and Yadgir 477.

A total of 4,84,060 samples were tested so far, out of which 10,553 were tested on Thursday alone.

According to the bulletin,4,64,338 samples have been reported as negative, and out of them 9,862 were reported negative today.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.