gurgaon

Updated: Aug 29, 2018 12:39 IST

Wildlife rescue teams saved 16 reptiles, including a spectacled cobra , on Tuesday, after five hours of rain. The wildlife department received 36 distress calls from Gurugram residents reporting that they had spotted snakes and monitor lizards in their neighbourhood. In three locations, snakes were spotted near two-wheelers parked inside lanes.

As many as sixteen rescue operations, including the rescue of a three-foot-long Indian Rock Python from Sector 57, were undertaken early Tuesday morning.

A two-foot-long Indian Rock Python was also rescued from Sector 56, near the Huda market, said officials.

A four-year-old spectacled cobra was rescued from Sector 61, near a grocery shop at around 11 am. A domestic help, who had gone to the shop to buy some household items, reported about the snake. Officials of the wildlife rescue team said the woman spotted the snake near the counter and alerted the shopkeeper. The team rescued the snake after a rescue operation of half-an-hour.

The team also rescued two five-foot-long cobras from sectors 45 and 47 in the afternoon, two more from Palam Vihar and Sushant Lok-1, and another from Kaliyawas. Three more were rescued — two from Kadarpur and one from Ullawas.

Officials said that the number of sightings of snakes and their rescue increase by almost 70 percent during the monsoon season. Areas, where such sightings are mostly reported, include Sector 57, Sushant Lok-1, DLF phases 1, 2 and 3, and villages adjacent to the city, including Kadarur, Kaliyawas and Gadoli Khurd.

Anil Gandass, a local wildlife enthusiast, said, “I responded to 20 distress calls since Tuesday morning. Residents panic when they spot a snake in the house.”

“Snakes straying during monsoon is a common phenomenon in some sectors. This year, the number of distress calls and rescue operations reached an all-time high. All snakes are rescued and later released into their habitat,” Vinod Kumar, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Gurugram, said.

The city is home to nearly 20 species of snakes, of which four — monocled cobra, spectacle cobra, black cobra and common krait — are highly venomous.