1 more anaconda dies in Thiruvananthapuram zoo

Thiruvananthapuram: Angela, 9, a second green Anaconda died in the city zoo on Tuesday. Angela had crushed Renuka, 9, a male green Anaconda, during mating on July 5.

Angela was seen coming out from the water pool in the wee hours of Tuesday. It lay on the ground and died, according to the CCTV visuals. A. S. Harshad, reptile keeper saw it lying motionless and informed the authorities.

Angela was taken to chief disease investigation office at Palode for post-mortem. A zoo official told DC that there was a cauliflower kind of growth on Angela’s rectum.

“When Renuka and Angela struggled for mating, the latter too suffered a 10-cm-long injury. The growth erupted and there was blood clot on the intestinal tract causing bacterial infection,” said the official.

The zoo authorities could not examine the mammoth Angela weighing over 100 kg after Renuka was crushed to death.

Seven green Anacondas were gifted by the Sri Lankan Dehiwala zoo to the Thiruvananthapuram zoo in April 2017 on the understanding that all of them were females. They were also implanted with microchip and given the names, Angela, Arundhati, Ganga, Ruth, Ramani, Dil and Renuka. But later, it was realised that Renuka and Ganga are males. Now only five green Anacondas remain in the city zoo and they are lodged in two enclosures. One has Dil, Arundhati, Ramani and Ganga and the other Ruth.