Two-headed Russell’s Viper snake found in Kalyan, Mumbai

Two-headed Russell’s Viper snake found in Kalyan, Mumbai

mangaloretoday.com

Mumbai, Sept 21: A horrifying viral video of a rare two-headed snake found in rocky terrain in western India, is doing rounds on the internet. The Russell’s Viper snake was captured on video, on September 19 in Aadharwadi area of Kalyan city in Maharashtra’s Thane district. The snake was picked by a man who then placed it on a leaf before the Forest Department officers transferred it to a glass box. The snake was rescued by Datta Bombey from Wild Animal Welfare. Veterinarian Dharma Raibole found that the snake was healthy after a medical examination.

It is not a miracle for snakes to have two-heads. A biological process, called bicephaly causes creatures to be born with two heads.

What is Bicephaly?

Bicephaly, also known as Polycephaly, is a common condition of having more than one head, usually found in animals. The term has Greek roots. Poly means "many" and kephalē saying "head". Any creature having polycephaly is one being with two or more body parts or two or more beings with a shared body. Bicephaly also leads to the birth of conjoined twins.

Just this month, a rare two-headed snake was found in streets of Bali village in the Tabanan region. Videos of the two-headed snake soon went viral. Since snakes with two heads make for one of the rarest sightings, some people even end up illegally selling them for a large amount of money. Last year, three men from Mumbai were arrested for trying to sell a red sand boa or the two-headed snake for Rs 15 lakh in Panvel. The men said that they were going to sell the snake for Rs 15 lakh, but its actual price in the market is around Rs 1 crore.