Viper gives birth to 41 small serpents in Jammu!

In a rare phenomenon, a viper gave birth to 41 serpulas (small serpents), instead of laying eggs, in a residential premises in Jammu. The viper -- mostly found in Africa and Asia -- delivered 41 serpulas in Subash Nagar area here last night, local residents said.

As soon as the incident spread, hundreds of people converged at the locality to have the glimpse of small serpents.

Satish Sharma, at whose premises the snake gave birth to serpulas, prepared sweets at his residence and distributed it among the gathering in order to perform 'Nag Devta' pooja, they said.

He, later, contacted the Wild-life Department officers and a team was deputed to the spot to bring the vipers to Manda Wildlife Sanctuary. Regional Wildlife Warden Nissar Ahmed Kitchloo said that it was a rare phenomenon of breeding by the poisonous snake.

"Normally snakes produce eggs which on hatching give birth to small serpents. It is very rarely that vipers directly delivers serpula," he said. "The eggs of vipers sometimes get hatched inside a pouch in the lower portion of their skin and then the small serpents come out one by one," he said adding all the 41 serpents were alive.

To a question, he said the survival rate among the viper serpents is very low.