Zoo busy preparing for baby anaconda

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo authorities are waiting with bated breath as Angela, the female anaconda, is fast approaching the end of her pregnancy. They expect the 65-kilo gigantic snake most likely to lay 4-5 eggs anytime between Sept 15 and Oct 15.

Then it would be the first time in the country an anaconda laying eggs.
Angela was weighing 60 kilos last month and putting weight fast. At first, the authorities were unsure whether she was pregnant or not. But when they examined the CCTV videos, their joy knew no bounds.

They saw she and Renuka, her mate, caught on camera in the act of copulation on March 15.

A senior zoo official said the pregnancy period of an anaconda is usually between six to seven months.

“In that case, Angela is most likely to deliver her eggs anytime between Sept 15 and Oct 15. Now Angela is not taking food as she has been moulting (the process of shedding the reptile’s skin to make way for a new growth),” he told DC.

Meanwhile, a former Museum and Zoo director who did not wish to be named said the anaconda getting pregnant was a significant achievement, and he is all praise for the zoo. He claimed that when Dehiwala Zoo authorities in Sri Lanka decided to give seven green anacondas on barter, they gave only one male and the rest were all females.

The authorities are expecting the anacondas to grow as big as 260 kilos in a year’s time from now. When they were brought down from Sri Lanka, they were just six kilogrammes.