Rare snakes born after a 3-year wait
Print Edition
Chinese scientists have successfully bred pearl-banded rat snakes, an endangered species native to China, for the first time since they were discovered a century ago.
The month-old snakes are about 33 centimeters long with dark green skin. The black stripes that give them their name resemble black pearls.
The species was discovered by an American biologist in 1929, but disappeared until the 1980s. Over the past decade, fewer than 30 live pearl-banded rat snakes have been found, and the only pair in captivity were captured in a nature reserve in southwest China’s Sichuan Province in 2014.
Scientists at the Chengdu Institute of Biology had to wait three years before the pair laid eggs in July. Two months later, the babies were born.
Ding Li, deputy researcher at the institute, said breeding the snakes was an important step in understanding the species. They will start to hibernate in about a month, Ding said.
Pearl-banded rat snakes share the same habitat as wild giant pandas. They live in forests in Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces 1,600 and 2,700 meters above sea level.
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