A King Cobra at the Pilikula Biological Park in Mangaluru has laid 38 eggs which were bred under artificially created conditions. The park resumed captive breeding of King Cobras after a gap of more than a decade. The eggs are being hatched under artificial conditions since the evening of July 7, and all neonates are expected to come out of their eggs by July 9.
According to the park director H. Jayaprakash Bhandary, the captive breeding or conservative breeding process comprises creating an artificial condition for mating, gestation and incubation periods, as well as hatching and rearing the neonates till about a year.
The Pilikula Biological Park is the only zoo in India to get permission from the Central Zoo Authority for captive breeding of King Cobras. The project was first sanctioned in 2010-11, and for the second time in 2021-22, Mr. Bhandary said.
