London, UK: A rare rhino rat snake (Rhynchophis boulengeri) emerging from its shell. The reptile house managed to produce a clutch of eight snakes, three of which have now gone to different collections as part of an exchange programme to increase the captive population in European zoos. This species of snake which originates from the mountains of Vietnam has been bred in a European zoo for the first time

Photograph: Ferry Van Stralen/ZSL London Z/EPA