Mumbai, Aug 14 (PTI) Sixteen rat snake eggs were found in the water pumping system of a company in neighbouring Thane district and were rescued, a forest official said on Monday.

The eggs were recovered from a company in Atgaon in Thane district last month and were handed over to the Shahapur forest department by Vanamitra Shahpur and Owl Conservation Foundation, range forest officer Laxman Chikhle said.

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The eggs were given to RAWW in coordination with Ashwamedh Pratisthan at their facility for artificial incubation, said Pawan Sharma founder and president RAWW and also the Honorary Wildlife Warden with the forest department.

The eggs started hatching last week and the hatchlings were released into the wild, said Avinash Harad of Ashwamedh Pratisthan and also the Honorary Wildlife Warden of Thane.

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Snake eggs after rescue or recovery cannot be relocated in the wild, as other predators can eat them. Hence, they had to be artificially incubated with the help of wildlife experts, doctors and zoologists from RAWW, the official said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)