Jungle Album

A python gives birth to 64 hatchlings in Manas, monitored by park officials and a video camera

ASSAM’S Manas National Park is famous for its tigers—yes, they are still around. But last week it added another claim to its fame—an Indian rock python—Python molurus—gave birth to as many as 64 hatchlings. And all under the watchful eye of Park officials.

The last 60 days have been captured on video for the first time in India, with award-winning documentary maker Gautam Saikia—who had made Jaws of Death on problems faced by rhinos in Kaziranga—camping for the entire period in the dense jungles.

‘‘Pythons are pride possessions of this Park,’’ says Abhijit Rabha, director of the 520-sq km Manas National Park, pointing out that such kind of monitoring inside a dense natural habitat is a first of its kind in India.

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The Manas National Park, incidentally, went through a dark period with insurgency threatening to wipe out its rich variety of both flora and fauna until the Bodo Accord of 2003 brought some respite. The Park, which is home to at least 22 highly endangered species, including the rare pygmy hog, also celebrated a centenary of conservation, though on a low scale earlier this year.

The Indian rock python lays eggs—in clutches of 15 to 50, sometimes even up to 100, as was the case in Manas—in secluded lairs or a shallow nest in a sheltered area.

THE Manas case is interesting for more reasons than one. The python and her eggs were first discovered on April 29 by villagers of Jajangha on the fringe of the Park. They reported it to members of the Manas Maozigendri Eco Tourism Society (MMETS), a group comprising about 50 ex-poachers and timber-smugglers, who once ran their writ over Manas, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While the MMETS brought this to the notice of Khampa Borgoyari, deputy chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), who also holds charge of forest and environment in the autonomous council, Borgoyari, in turn requisitioned the services of Gautam Saikia to document the entire process.

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‘‘It was a wonderful experience for all of us who were inside the Park,’’ says Rathin Barman of the Wildlife Trust of India. ‘‘It is difficult for a python to ensure that all her eggs hatch. There are many predators who eye the eggs. But in this case, it was highly commendable what MMETS members did to conserve a Schedule 1 species,’’ he says.

The happy ending came with Park director Abhijit Rabha announcing that at least 64 hatchlings have been counted. ‘‘It is difficult to count snakes in a cluster. But I must give full credit to the members of the MMETS for the round-the-clock monitoring they did for two months, guarding the eggs with equal concern as the female python,’’ he says.

And obviously he hopes the new Park members will attract more visitors to Manas in the next tourist season, beginning October.