A week-old albino king cobra, one of the rarest of the kind, was rescued at JP Park in Mathikere Bengaluru on Monday. As told to Times of India by the snake rescuers, it is for the first time that an albino cobra has been rescued in the city. Following a panic call at around seven in the morning, snake rescuer Rajesh Kumar and Vivek Urs rushed to the spot and were taken aback on seeing a two-day-old cobra hatchling. Albinism – absence of pigments turning animals pale – is extremely rare in repltiles.

“The snake with white coloured body and red eyes is very rare. Even across the country only about eight of them have been sighted so far. When I got a call from a house owner from the Gokula Extension in Mathikere, I was under the impression it was another common cobra. But it was a pleasant surprise for me. The snake was quarter feet long and was released in the subtle habitat,” Rajesh told Times of India.

“It was indeed a surprise to see an albino cobra for the first time even though we have been rescuing snakes during the monsoon season,” Rajesh added. The hatchling was nowhere close to the humans and was resting at a corner of the house. The barely a week-old snake was carefully rescued and found to be healthy. It was put inside a box and was released into its natural habitat. Later, the volunteers combed for other hatchlings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 10:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).