Time to get a glimpse of the incredible wild wonder
CHANDIGARH: Rains are about to usher in hope not just for those who eagerly wait for pleasant mornings after a long summer, but also wildlife enthusiasts who may just get a glimpse of albino spectacled cobra, which is said to be every venom extractors dream sight. Bestowed with incredible features, albino is one of the extreme rarities of the natural world. Doomed to an early death, the white or pink-coloured reptile is an easy prey for crested serpent eagle, eagle owls, mongooses and jungle cats, which gobble the albino before it can even attain maturity. In fact, the albinos life span is not expected to go beyond a full monsoon season.
The fact that this rare cobra was last sighted in Siswan forests near Chandigarh during rains is reason enough for wildlife enthusiasts to pray for monsoon. The juvenile 1.5-foot long albino was discovered in a natural brood of dark cobras by a team of snake-charmers hired by builder and venom extractor Jagdeep Singh Shiena. Albino cobras are a rarity across India. To find an adult is even rarer as they do not survive the wild. In captivity, the albino may survive upto 12-15 years, says Soham Mukherjee, assistant curator with the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT). The white skin is the result of faulty pigmentation that is caused by a lack of cells that produce melamin, he adds. Talking about an albino that was gifted by a Sri Lankan zoo to MCBT, Mukherjee says, Six-year-old Goya has been safe with the Trust ever since it came here. However, for all its attractive and relatively innocent looks, the albino retains its infamous poison glands. The neurotoxins present in cobras venom attack the human central nervous system. Albinos are very popular amongst snake breeders in the West. A good specimen may sell for anywhere between $500-$1,000.
Due to its association with India and its folk culture, the albino is a big attraction at the MCBT. Albinos are born as rarity in a brood fostered by a pair of regular cobras. If both parents are albinos, there is a very good chance of having baby albinos, says Mukherjee. An authentic record for the albino came to the fore when Shiena, who worked as a snake venom extractor, was mapping venomous snakes across Punjab for his dream project of a low-cost snake venom extraction centre near Landran. My team was equipped with cellphones. One fine day, I get a call from someone saying that a pinkish cobra was found amongst a brood. I saw it and even clicked pictures of the pink wonder.
It had the colour of a fair human palm, says Shiena, who adds that it was one of the most adorable creatures that he had ever seen in his lifetime. Our teams combed all over Punjab but we never encountered another albino, Shiena says. Leading snake rescuer Nikhil Sanger of the Wildlife Conservation Society, who has dealt with hundreds of snakes, vouches for the fact that albinos are the most difficult creature to be spotted in the wild.