This article has been published on LakbimaNews 0n 17.Jan.2010

The fairest of them all - Dehiwela zoo’s baby albino cobras

It was a robbery of a different kind that caught the attention of the world in the early 70s. Two Germans were caught at Katunayaka airport trying to smuggle out the famous albino cobra that was stolen from the Dehiwala Zoo. The cobra however was lucky - it was saved and brought back home, and successive generations have been successfully bred in the zoo. A new batch of albino cobras were hatched at the zoo recently, but are still being kept in the nursery and not allowed visitors. LAKBIMAnEWS recently paid a visit to the zoo to bring you the first news on the duo...

For some reason, Sri Lankan mothers like to have fair babies. In that sense, the guardian of the Dehiwala zoo Reptilian section must have been the happiest last June, as all 15 cobra babies that were hatched were more than just fair. They were all albinos - ivory white, a very rare breed in nature.

A creature can become an albino due to a lack of melamine in their skin (melamine is the ingredient that adds colour to the skin), but these cobras lack it genetically. Their parents who are both albinos passed their albino genes to the next generation. Even the eyes of these cobras are reddish, so they are sensitive to sunlight. They prefer to hide in the separate wooden boxes that have enough holes to provide adequate ventilation . On an earlier occasion, the baby cobras that were kept together had killed each other, so this time around the curators paired the babies and kept them in separated wooden boxes that are designed specifically for them. They were cleaning these boxes at the time we paid our visit to the zoo.

Premasiri Peries, veteran curator of the Reptilian section handled the cobra babies deftly and without worry. He took a few of them out to show us. They are now about a foot long and are learning how to 'hiss' properly. "Even though the sound is not as scary as a grown cobra’s, a bite can be lethal" warned the curator, when I was preparing to photograph the cute looking baby snake that showed me its hood. Staying still is probably the hardest thing to do as far as babies go, and these little cobras were no different. They tried to creep away as soon as Peries had taken his eyes off of them.

Incubator

"We used a locally made incubator to hatch them," said Peries. He showed us a pot filled with kohubath, with the empty egg-shells still there. The incubator was actually an invention by Peries. The babies were hatched after an incubation period of one month and 12 days. They are fed small frogs twice a week and are steadily growing in size. The albino cobras, including these babies' parents had been caught in the Piliyandala area, Peries recalled. It is unknown why albino cobras frequent this area; however the zoo now has more than 6 adults. They breed quite often but most of the hatchlings have been shared with zoos in other parts of the world. Two pairs of albinos born last year were sent to India, a bigger country with larger number of cobras but lacking in this particular breed. The education officer of the zoo Nihal Senarath, speaking on Albino Cobras said that they are one of the key attractions at the zoo. He recalled the attempted Albino Cobra robbery in 1970s. Someone had noticed a couple of foreigners jumping off the zoo's parapet wall and informed the authorities. At that time the Reptilian section was small and was located in the area now occupied by the porcupine pen. The two Germans had taken the cobra out and rushed to the airport. Due to the vigilance of airport security , these germans were caught and the snake was soon returned to the zoo where it lived a long and full life.

The newly hatched baby snakes are still being kept inside as they are very sensitive to sunlight. But you can have a good look at their parents if you visit the zoo Reptilian area.Pix courtesy Dehiwela Zoo