Mumbai, May 19 (PTI) Seventeen monitor lizards were born in a controlled environment in a plastic container in the care of the forest department here, an official said on Sunday.

The reptiles hatched on Saturday from a clutch of 44 eggs laid by a monitor lizard, which the Mumbai range of the forest department rescued in October last year, the official said.

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The department has handed over the reptile and the eggs to RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) for care and rehabilitation, he said.

The reptile was a little weak after laying eggs and was under observation for a week before being released into the wild in coordination with the forest department, said Pawan Sharma, founder and president of RAWW and the honorary wildlife warden with the forest department.

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The clutch of 44 eggs was kept in a controlled environment in a plastic container for incubation, said Chinmay Joshi, zoologist and secretary of RAWW.

Some eggs got damaged due to the heat, and some were infertile, he said.

After 217 days, 17 young ones successfully hatched on Saturday. They will be examined and released into their natural habitat, Joshi 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)