Rare snake rescued from house in Thane

The rare Travancore wolf snake was rescued from a chawl at Lokmanya Nagar in Thane on Friday night

Responding to a distress call on the helpline of NGO RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) a rare Travancore wolf snake was rescued from a chawl at Lokmanya Nagar in Thane on Friday night. Speaking to mid-day, Pawan Sharma from RAWW said, "We got a call from a residential area that a snake had entered a house. Aman Singh from our Rescue Team was assigned, who soon reached the spot and safely rescued the snake."

Sharma told mid-day that this may be the first official record with the forest department of this non-venomous nocturnal reptile species, which is endemic to
south India. "The snake has been medically examined by Dr Priti Sathe from RAWW and was released back to the wild. Lesser known species need to be studied more so that we can learn and understand about them and initiate better conservation efforts," added Sharma.

The Travancore wolf snake lives in the highlands of the Western and Eastern Ghats, and a few areas of Central India. It is identified by its black or dark chocolate brown body with yellow stripes. It is unique among other Peninsular Indian wolf snakes (Lycodon) in that its loreal scale does not touch the internasals. It gets along well with the rest of the recognised species. On Sunday, a rusty-spotted cat was rescued from an area near the Tansa Wildlife Sanctuary. Dr Rina Dev and her team of vets are treating the cat, assisted by rescue team members from RAWW.