Rare red coral kukri snake rescued in Thakurgaon

A red coral kukri snake was rescued by local residents from the Bara Balia area of Thakurgaon sadar upazila on Thursday night.

"Instead of killing the snake, a local resident, Joynal, informed the forest department," said Sahidul Islam, wildlife conservator and rescuer, reports UNB.

Md Mahbubur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Thakurgaon district, said the snake "is safe in the custody of the district authorities". According to researchers, this rare mild venomous snake was spotted not more than 30 times across the world.

In a span of three months last year, this snake was spotted five times in the northern district of Panchagarh in Bangladesh. On 7 February 2021, for the first time, the first one was found in an injured condition in Panchagarh. Then again on 26 February, a dead one was found in Chaklahat.

On 20 April, a third one was found alive and the fourth one on 10 May was found dead in the same district last year.

According to an Indian media report, this rare snake was first spotted in the Lakhimpur Kheri area of Uttar Pradesh state in 1936 from where it got its scientific name 'Oligodon kheriensis'.

The suffix 'kukri' in its name comes from kukri or curved knife of the Gorkhas as its teeth are curved like the blade of the weapon. It has been spotted a few times in India's hilly state of Uttarakhand.