A venomous Russell's viper (chandrabora) has been rescued from a mustard field in Biral upazila, Dinajpur. The snake was handed over to the Rajshahi Snake Rescue Team on the morning of 2 December.

It was rescued at about 5:30pm on 1 December from a mustard field next to the Rengtar bridge on the bank of the Tulai river in Bhandara union.

Mohsin Ali, officer in charge of the forest department's Biral SFPC, said local farmer Nur Islam saw an unfamiliar snake in his mustard field and informed the forest department, whose staff went to the spot and rescued the Russell's viper. Because the area is close to the border, the snake is thought to have come into Bangladesh from India. As it is highly venomous, it will not be released there but taken to the Rajshahi forest department. A team from Rajshahi Snake Rescue arrived in Biral on Friday morning and the snake was handed over to them after the official formalities.

He added that the Russell's viper is on Bangladesh's extinction list. Snakes of this species used to be seen mainly in desert regions, and various natural disasters have brought them to this area, he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.