Rare albino cobra rescued in Rancharda

AHMEDABAD: A rare albino cobra was rescued by snake lovers from Rancharda on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. The snake, which suffers from albinism just like humans, has lost its pigmentation and comes across as a white snake. This is the second such snake spotted in the state in the past three years.
On Monday morning, snake rescuer Mukesh Bhatti and his team spotted the albino snake and informed the forest department after rescuing it.The snake was caught from the bungalows in the area and was then brought to the forest department rescue centre in Ahmedabad.
The albino snake rescued earlier was from Saurashtra region and it is now a resident of Kamla Nehru Zoological Garden.
R G Prajapati, the deputy conservator of forest , (DCF), said “An albino snake is a type of snake born with a genetic abnormality known as albinism, which is a lack of pigmentation in the body and eyes. This leads to snakes that are white in colour, or lacking a particular colouration. For example, a snake that is usually yellow, white, and red might only be yellow and white and lack red.”
Prajapati said albinism is found almost in all animals, including humans.
According to Bhatti, the survival of such snakes is very difficult as their white colour makes it difficult for them to camouflage themselves from the eyes of predators.
R K Sahoo, superintendent of Kamla Nehru Zoo, said, “If the snake comes to us, we will keep it. We have already brought one from Saurashtra, three years ago. The zoo also has one albino porcupine and an albino spotted deer.”